The Love of A Seeress
by diellemabelle
Summary: Post Final Fantasy XIII-2 Serah is transported to Gaea. There, the timeline is distorted and it's up to her and Van to fix it... Two destinies intertwined. Which seeress will hold Van's heart?
1. A World Beyond Death

Final Fantasy XIII-2/ Escaflowne Crossover

The Love of a Seeress

Chapter 1: A World Beyond Death

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**Author's Note: **

**This story begins where the game FFXIII-2 ends. So, yes, there are spoilers. If you don't plan on playing the game, watching the closing cinematics on youtube would help you understand the content in this first chapter.  
**

**Thanks so much to Crystal Night and ZiggyGurl for your edits! They are much appreciated!  
**

**That is all, Enjoi! XD**

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The battle was won. The new Cocoon, Bhunivelze, was being launched into the sky, bright and beautiful. The time gates were closing. The world and the human race would be safe once again from paradoxes and Caius himself. Optimism was in the air and everyone was now seeing the possibilities of a new future.

Serah was caught up in the enthusiasm like everyone else, but she was also thinking about how they had gotten here. Their journey had been full of danger from the start and she was so grateful to have made it home to her friends. She knew that despite her strength of will and her need to save her sister, Lightning, she wouldn't have made it as far as she did without Noel. He protected her as he would have protected Yeul, had he the chance to become her Guardian. The only thing he couldn't protect her from her was her fate, a fact she now understood. So she turned to him, her smiling protector, to thank him, "Hey, Noel," she said, ducking her head in modesty, "Thank you."

Noel turned his happy face and met her eyes, and he saw the expression in them change as she faltered and fell to her knees. His joy turned quickly to panic as he saw in Serah the tell-tale signs of a seeress vision, gaze unfocussed, unresponsive... _But she said she was fine! I thought she had been spared! "_No. Not now, please," he said as he raced to her side and cradled her in his arms as the life flowed out of her and she slumped against him. "Serah, snap out of it. No, Serah! SERAH!" Noel shouted in anguish as his heart broke for his friend who died in his arms. She was the second woman to do so.

Serah found herself cold and alone, in a place she had never been before. She knew in her heart that she had made the right decision to continue her journey to correct the timeline – aware that each vision of the Historia Crux would eat away at her life until nothing would be left. Yeul had warned her of the dangers that plagued those blessed with the eyes of Etro, but she too had been tied to the fate of the goddess. The promise that her world would be safe from the tampering of Caius had been enough for Serah – it had been the only way to save those afflicted by paradox effects –the only way to stop Cocoon's fall and the destruction of the colonies on Pulse. She could already picture her sister, Lightning, waking up at home, freed from her endless battle on Valhalla. It was enough for her to embrace death with open arms. So, was this death?

Serah rose to her feet and walked a slow circle, taking in her surroundings. Though she had once fallen into a crystal slumber for months, this death held no resemblance to that restful state. Back then, she had at first felt so alone. Gradually, she began to dream of her life and those she held dear to her: Snow and Lightning. It ended with her wishing with every fibre of her being for them to be okay and that she might see them again. This time, she felt like she was actually _somewhere_, though she didn't know where that might be. She stood in a clearing with dirt under her feet and off in the distance she saw the shadow of trees. A forest. It was dark, but it was the darkness of the night, not the absolute emptiness you'd expect for the end of your life. She touched her face, it was still there, and looked down her arms, right down to the toes of her shoes. Everything looked as it should. There was even dirt on her knees from kneeling. She brushed it off, surprised by something so normal.

_Right, _she thought to herself_, I guess the next step is to figure out where I am. No waiting around. This is my afterlife, after all. _Serah took a determined first step towards the trees that surrounded her clearing. Then another. Before long she was running towards the forest. She looked desperately for something, or even someone, to give her a clue as to where she was, or at least what to expect. No matter how strong she tried to be, recent events had worn her thin. Darkness enveloped her as she entered the forest.

Running, she knew that she should slow down to avoid tripping on tree roots and low hanging branches, but her need for guidance overwhelmed her common sense. Death had robbed Serah of concern for her own body, so she kept her pace. To her, the forest was devoid of life. Leaves crunching under her feet and her own heavy breathing were making her deaf to the sounds of birds and small animals that would have provided her comfort. Still, she didn't slow down. A branch caught her in the right eye as she was racing past. The sting of pain caused her to reduce her speed to a walk. She cupped her eye with her hand and felt a warm trickle of blood running down her cheek. She stopped completely.

_Ow! This is highly unfair, _she decided, pouting. She had not expected to feel pain. Now that she was still, the sounds of the forest met her ears. There was some rustling to her left, like something was moving through the underbrush. Serah jumped but kept herself from crying out, afraid of what it might be. The closer the sound got, the greater her fear and uncertainty became. She needed to hide. Her heart pounding in her chest, she tried to hide herself behind a tree trunk, but the dry leaves crunched under her feet, giving away her position. Whatever had been stalking her now came crashing through the woods towards her.

Serah jumped out of the path of the large creature just as it bowled over the tree she was hiding behind. The ground shook as the great beast stampeded past her. More trees were felled by its fury. It was so dark in the shadow of the forest that she could only see the outline of the rampaging animal that towered over her. Even though Serah was well accustomed to battling against Behemoths and other large monsters, Mog did not appear at her side to provide her with a weapon. The beast turned to face her again and its chest started to glow bright pink. It illuminated its scaled belly and the beginnings of its long serpentine neck. _A dragon, _thought Serah_. This doesn't look good... _

"Hey you, get out of here!" shouted an unknown voice coming from the same direction that the dragon had originated from. Serah looked over to see a dark-haired man running towards her in full armor with his sword out, illuminated by the dragons glowing chest. He stopped in front of her and produced a shield from his arm just as the dragon released its flame upon them.

"Get back!" the man yelled, though Serah could not tell if he was talking to her or the dragon. So she just stayed safely behind him as he lunged forward with his sword. Unused to feeling so helpless in battle, she wished for a weapon, but the dragon was keeping the man too busy for her to ask him for anything. The only thing she could do was try to stay out of the way.

All of a sudden, she noticed that the brand on her arm, the one marking her as a L'Cie, had started to glow. It didn't make any sense because she had completed her focus, the task set out for her by the gods of Cocoon. However, ignoring her more sane thoughts, she reached into herself and found the tingling energy of magic. While the man was dodging an attack from the dragon's deadly barbed tail, Serah focused her energy and unleashed Blizzaga on the beast. Ice crystals covered the dragon from nose to tail before it shattered into a million pieces, leaving behind nothing but a pink rock where the dragon had been.

**To Be Continued…**


	2. The Lost Pirate

Final Fantasy XIII-2/Escaflowne Crossover

The Love of A Seeress

Chapter 2: The Lost Pirate

The man was completely baffled. One minute he was fighting a dragon for the first time in four years and the next the dragon was dead and its energist was lying on the forest floor. _What was that ice storm?_ He thought, thoroughly confused. _It shouldn't be snowing in the spring...And who was she?_

Serah was pleased with herself for defeating the dragon and proving that she wasn't useless, after all. _Even dead, I pack a potent punch,_ she thought, smiling to herself at her little joke.

The man slowly walked toward the pink rock and bent down to pick it up. After examining the rock, he stashed it away in his armor. Then he turned around to address Serah. "I don't know what you think you're doing here, but this is a royal forest and is off-limits to outsiders," he said, judging by her clothes to not be from his country. "You'd best come with me," he remarked and began to walk back the way he came, expecting her to follow him.

"Hey, wait a second!" Serah exclaimed, as she jogged to catch up to him. She deserved at least a little recognition for defeating the dragon but instead this man was trying to scold her for trespassing! Who did he think he was?

As she caught up to him, Serah grabbed the man's shoulder and turned him to face her. "Hey, who are you..." she began, but the contact surprised the man, and he jerked out of her grasp. His movement caused Serah to stumble and she tripped on a tree root, falling to the ground.

The man quickly moved to help her, kneeling down next to her, "Are you ok?" he asked, with concern. She looked up and game a small nod. "I am sorry, I did not mean to knock you down like that. Here, let me help you up," he said and offered her a hand. She took it and they both stood, looking at each other.

_That was no way for a King to act, _he thought, _knocking down little girls like that._ He felt ashamed of his actions and attitude towards this young, injured and probably very scared girl.

"My name is Van," he said, trying to make up for his prior rudeness. "Van Fanel, King of Fanelia. And who might you be?"

Serah had never met a king before. Unsure how to act and suddenly flustered, she curtsied, a blush rising to her cheeks. "My name is Serah Feron. I'm not from around here..." she started, and looking around she didn't really know what else to say.

He could see that the girl, Serah, was injured and blood from beneath her eyelid had dried in drops down her face. "Don't worry, we'll discuss that after we get your eye patched up," Van said, trying to lighten the mood. "Just come with me to the castle, it's just over this ridge."

And so, the two walked back towards the castle. A man, who looked to be half wolf, in full armor similar to Van's ran up to them. "Did you find the dragon?" he asked in a gruff voice. Seeing Serah, he gave her a half bow. "Who is this lady at your side, Lord Van?"

"Yes, Remus, I found the dragon," Van said as he reached into his armor pulling out the energist. Remus fell to his knees at the sight. "It was there that I found this woman in the woods, her name is Serah Feron, and I mean to have her taken care of in the castle."

"Of course, your majesty, would you like me to send for a carriage?" Remus asked from his knees.

"Oh, I don't need any fussing over..."

"Yes, thank you," Serah and Van spoke at the same time.

The men looked at her like she had sprouted a second head, few would interrupt a king.

"Never mind, Remus, we will walk there. It's not too far," Van said, giving Serah an amused look. He dismissed his master at arms and Remus rose, nodded to Van and walked back to the castle. They started back to the castle by a different path, on foot by Serah's request.

Completely forgetting his chivalrous plans to wait until she was comfortable before interrogating her, Van began, "You said you weren't from around here, so where are you from?"

"Oh, well I'm from Cocoon... but I really don't know where I am now. Is this Gran Pulse?" she asked, judging by the wildness of the area and the dragon attacking them the way it did.

"Hmm, I'm not familiar with either of those places. This is Fanelia, my country." He said, and as he did, he was reminded of another young girl who came into his life as suddenly wearing strange clothes and not knowing what country she was in. _Hitomi..._ he thought. "Are you from the mystic moon?" he asked pointing in excitement to the blue moon hanging low overhead. "Do you know Hitomi?"

Serah was taken aback by the urgency of his questions. She looked up at the moon Van was indicating and was reminded of how Cocoon looked from the plains of Pulse. "No, I don't know anyone by that name..." she said. She wasn't sure how to explain where she was from to Van. Maybe because she wasn't sure of the answer herself; was she from Bodhum on Cocoon, her birthplace, or New Bodhum on Pulse where she relocated after she was freed from her crystal slumber? She had just been getting used to the year 500AF, 497 years in her own future, with her friends Hope, Sazh and Noel... but she didn't even have a home there yet. And what about Snow? She hadn't even seen him since the Sunleth Waterscape two hundred years before that! Would he somehow have known to find her in Bhunivelze in 500AF? Her whole life was kind of a mess after all of her time traveling, and she had not had the time to think of these things.

She saw that Van was waiting for her to elaborate, so she gave it a shot, "Where I'm from, there is a world hanging in the sky, just like here," she said, pointing at the mystic moon. "But it is held up by a pillar of crystal..." _My friends, Vanille and Fang..._ "I live in a seaside town called New Bodhum on Gran Pulse." She finished, trying to at least answer his question about where she was from, even if it didn't make any sense to him.

"So you aren't from Gaea at all then," Van decided. _A world held up by crystal, how strangely enchanting_, he thought trying to picture the mystic moon on a pillar. Before he could stop himself, he blurted: "But how did you call that blizzard?" He was not entirely sure it was her that caused it, but knowing that it had definitely not been a natural occurrence.

Serah looked away, unsure what to say. They walked in silence for a moment before she decided that if she wasn't on Cocoon or Pulse he wouldn't know about the Fal'Cie, the gods that both protected and controlled humans on back on Cocoon. "I have some magical abilities," Serah explained. "One of those is the ability to call elements, such as ice, fire, wind and lightning during a battle."

"Amazing!" breathed Van.

They reached the castle quickly enough, but their conversations were punctuated by many silences which made the trek seem longer than had been. They were so different, from different worlds and had absolutely no common ground to discuss. Even Van's simple question "how did you get here?" had no real answer. Van was again reminded of the girl from the mystic moon that came to him four years ago, but for some reason now he could not remember her name though he was sure he had only just mentioned it.

After having left Serah with the castle medicine woman, Van walked over to the armory to put away his dragon armor. It was so strange that today was the first time a rogue dragon had been sighted near the city in nearly four years, and with it appeared a strange girl from another world. He contemplated the coincidence as he cleaned the charred surface of his shield. Remus and the other wolf men of his castle guard were just outside helping a merchant adjust a new stone roof on his store. Van had decreed that all of Fanelia be built in stone, so it would never be burnt to the ground again. In four years, it was amazing how much progress they had made, the city felt like home again. After cleaning his armor, Van chose a meandering path back to the castle so he could get a better idea of how far his people had come from the end of the war.

_I can't even remember her name,_ thought Van as he reached the gates, _but I know she was important to me._ He felt like his memories were slipping away from him. He really wanted to discuss this with Serah, but how could he discuss what he can't even remember? Even though it was late, he decided to seek her out immediately and tell her about what happened four years ago.

He found her in the garden lying on her back staring at the sky, at the mystic moon. She looked troubled. He noted her pink hair in its side-ponytail that reminded him of Merle. Where was Merle? She would usually pounce on him the moment he returned to the castle, but she still hadn't made an appearance_. Strange…_

He laid down next to Serah and put his hands behind his head. "How's your eye?" he asked.

Serah touched the eye patch she'd been given gingerly, it still hurt. "I kind of feel like a pirate," she replied, giggling. No sense in complaining, she did do it to herself running through the forest like an idiot.

Van snickered. She really did remind him of that girl. "So you really don't remember how you got here?" he asked.

"No..." Serah replied. She didn't want to explain the details of how she chose to die in order to save her world and how that death had somehow brought her to Gaea. She didn't want to explain all the time travel and the visions and her whole adventure with Noel to defeat his rival, Caius. It all seemed so important then. Now, it was more of a formality that she didn't want to deal with.

"You know, I've been thinking a lot about that girl from the mystic moon since I met you," Van said in his soft voice. "This all seems familiar, fighting a dragon and meeting a mysterious woman, yet for some reason I've been having trouble remembering what happened four years ago when she came to Gaea. I know she played an important part in defeating the Zaibach Empire, but I can't even remember what the war was about," Van said, getting more frustrated with every word. "I can't even remember her name!" he shouted.

Serah flinched at his outburst. _He is starting to sound like Noel, _she thought, _he talked about Yeul that way; not being able to remember what happened the day she died… Is it possible that Gaea is experiencing a paradox effect of its own? _She wondered if that was why she was transported here, to solve the timeline of Gaea. _But I haven't had any visions…_

She propped herself up on one arm to look at Van and as their eyes met, she saw a young girl with short brown hair reaching out for her in his eyes. The girl's hand shot out from his eye and grabbed onto Serah's dress, dragging her into forward into a dark abyss.

**To Be Continued…**


	3. Visions of the Past

Final Fantasy XIII-2/ Escaflowne Crossover

The Love of A Seeress

Chapter 3: Visions of the Past

The woman in Van's eyes pulled Serah down into the depths of his memories, throwing her into a vision that had her falling through darkness. Serah felt as though she were falling farther and farther down a well. She screamed for help, looked for something to halt her fall but there was nothing. Above her a speck of light appeared and began to grow against the blackness. It drew closer, flicking like a bird but far larger. When his outstretched hand reached for her own, she realized it was a man with large white wings, though the light behind him cast his face in shadows. _Van?_

This scene faded into another, and now Serah was watching from a distance. A tall mechanical warrior with a flowing cape of red and blue was fighting with an unseen opponent. Sitting on its shoulder was the same woman with short brown hair and large green eyes. The woman pointed in a new direction. Turning, the mech raised its sword to attack again as fire burst all around it.

The view changed again and a younger Van in a red shirt turned to her with a smile. Another switch and he was arguing, his eyes burning. In one, the woman was on her back on a stone floor, eyes blank, while Van was frantically performing CPR on her. Serah saw the desperation on his face and the sweat on his brow as he willed this woman to live. "C'mon Hitomi, snap out of it!" Van cried. _This must be that girl from the mystic moon,_ thought Serah. The memories continued to flow around her, she felt her hand connect with his cheek, his face flushed with shock of her strike. Emotions ran through her with each new vision. Joy, hate, sorrow, hope, despair, betrayal, loss and underlying them all, love.

After the images faded, Serah was left in the dark with the woman, Hitomi, standing in front of her. Hitomi reached into the collar of her blouse and pulled out a pink pendant necklace. She smiled to Serah when she said, "Within this pendant is sealed the ancient power of Atlantis. It has the power to make wishes into reality." But then she shook her head, and a sad look crossed her face. "But my wish was to be with Van, and now I am fading away!"

Serah had no idea what to say to that, but the girl didn't wait for an answer. "The uncertainty lies in the past. I believe you can help me. Trust in your heart and don't give up!"

With that parting message, Serah awoke. The echo of "don't give up" reminded her of Vanille's voice. Her eyes snapped open to find Van's worried face inches from her own as he bent over her. He was shouting "Hitomi!" Serah noticed the pendant hanging down from his neck was the same necklace that the woman had been wearing in the vision.

"You loved her, didn't you," she said, knowing from her vision that he had.

Van smiled sadly, reassured that Serah had woken up, but wishing that she was the woman from the mystic moon. "Yes, I loved Hitomi very much," he said. "I'm glad I can remember her name now."

"Maybe you just needed a reminder!" Serah laughed, because according to her insight into Van's memories, Hitomi had fainted and had visions very often.

"Yes, I guess so," Van smirked. "You are alright, though?" he added, softly, "Was that a vision you just had?"

"It was. I saw everything that happened four years ago; how you met Hitomi and how you two managed to overthrow the powerful Zaibach Empire with true love." Serah said, and, motioning to his necklace, "that pendant belonged to her, right?"

"Yes, I believe it's what brought her to Gaea," Van said, fingers closing around the pink stone. "She gave it to me the day she returned to the mystic moon. I've been wearing it ever since. Sometimes, when I feel lonely I just have to concentrate on my memories of her, and it's like she's here with me, letting me know everything will be okay."

"That's very sweet," Serah said, reminded of the distance between herself and her beloved, Snow. _If only I could be so certain that he's alright and that we'll see each other again. _The more she thought about it, the more she worried that she'd never get back to her world. And even if she did, would Snow find her in 500AF? What if he was trapped in the wrong era when the time gates closed?

"Your necklace is beautiful as well, I have never seen anything like it," Van remarked.

"It's sort of an engagement ring," Serah sighed. "My fiancé, Snow, gave it to me when he asked me to marry him. Unfortunately, we never did have the chance to have the ceremony. The world was a mess and my sister went missing. Snow promised me he'd find her, but when he left, he also left his necklace." Serah pulled out a matching necklace from her satchel.

"I'm sure that you will see each other again," Van promised easily. "If you truly love each other, and are never far from each others thoughts, then your destinies will be intertwined."

"Do you really believe that?" Serah asked, a bit incredulous. "Because I believe that we form our own destiny based on the choices we make. He chose to leave me to save my sister… And I chose to die to save the world."

"Die?" Van asked, "But you aren't dead! What did you mean by that?"

Serah shook her head, "Now that is a story for another day." She yawned.

"Yes, I guess so. It is very late." Van got to his feet and offered Serah a hand up. She took it. "I'll show you to a guest room. If you need anything just ask one of the servants, they will provide you with whatever you need."

They walked down the hushed corridors of a castle fast asleep. At the door to her room, Serah turned and thanked Van for his hospitality. "I'll see you at breakfast, okay?" Van replied as he walked away, giving a casual wave.

In the morning Serah found that her clothes were laid out on the dresser and were newly washed and folded. She was able to take the first bath she'd had in what seemed like a very long time. Her adventure through time had been barren of the simple comforts of cleanliness and, as her rumbling stomach reminded her, of a proper meal. So she hurried down to the great hall, following her maidservant Pia. She thanked her and took a place near the middle of a ridiculously long dining table. Van was seated at the head of the table, talking to some men who Serah observed were knights. He looked agitated. As she enjoyed large servings of every dish, many of which looked completely foreign to her, she listened in on the conversations being had around her. They mostly were remarking on the wonderful weather they'd been having. Some, however, were discussing in hushed voices how strange Lord Van was acting.

All conversations came to a standstill when a tall man entered the hall from a doorway behind the head of the table. He had short gray-blue hair and a tear painted on his right cheek. His long robe was a deep red and had only one sleeve. It was belted at the waist with a gold sash. He wore no crown, but it was obvious to Serah that this man was important. She turned her gaze to Van, and noticed that his jaw was nearly to the floor. The silence was dispelled by many voices saying "Welcome home, King Folken," and other hearty pleasantries from the knights.

"Van," the man said with a chuckle, "Good to see you're well, but don't get too comfortable in my chair."

"Folken…?" Van replied in disbelief. "But you're..."

"Come, now, Van," Folken scolded, "is this any way to welcome back your brother?" He mussed Van's hair as he addressed the knights closest to the head of the table, "I'm gone for one month, and he already thinks he's King!" he laughed and the whole hall joined in. While Serah was confused by this turn of events, Van was outright furious.

Van's face turned as red as his brother's robes. "You are dead!" he shouted, more to himself, it seemed, than to anyone in the hall.

"Let's not go around making idle threats, little brother," Folken said waving a cautionary finger.

Van got up and ran out of the hall. Serah got out of her chair to chase after him. The noise brought everyone's eyes around to her. She stopped, embarrassed by the attention. "Ah, Serah," Folken called, surprising Serah that he knew her name, "That is an interesting look for you," as he motioned to his eye. _Oh right, the eye patch._ "Perhaps you can talk some sense into our wild Prince?"

Serah just nodded and ran in the same direction that Van had gone.

She found Van sitting on the edge of a fountain in the garden from last night. The statue was of an angel with her arms outspread. Water streamed from her palms and splashed into the pool below. Van's head was in his hands. As she sat down next to him, he glanced in her direction. "Oh, it's you," he said.

"Your brother..." she started, but then Van cut her off.

"Something weird is going on," Van said, as though he was thinking it over. "First, a dragon appears, then you. Then Merle goes missing and no one can tell me where she is."

_So that was why he was so agitated at breakfast, _Serah thought.

"And now my brother, Folken has somehow returned from the dead and is claiming to be King of Fanelia!"

Serah rested her chin on her hand as she thought to herself: _People missing, and others coming back from the dead? There must be someone messing with the timeline! But how do I explain this to Van? _"I think I know what's going on." She said.

Van looked at her expectantly, "Yes?"

"Well, the same thing happened to me. I remember Lightning," Serah paused looking at Van, "My sister, giving Snow and me her blessing to get married. But when I turned around, she vanished. I asked everyone where she went but no one could remember her being there. They told me she was trapped in the crystal pillar holding up Cocoon. They said she died to keep the rest of us safe." Serah shifted her position and went on, "I knew she had been on Pulse that day. I knew it! Only Snow believed me, and he soon set out to search for Lightning.

"Three years after he left, a meteorite fell from the sky and a man named Noel told me that my sister was looking for me. Can you imagine my excitement? Finally someone acknowledged that she was alive! He told me that the flow of time had been disrupted and because that one event had changed, my sister not coming home, events that were to happen hundreds of years in the future were also changed. So we set off to fix the timeline…" Serah trailed off.

"Are you saying that the timeline of Gaea has been tampered with?" Van asked, thoughtfully.

"I think so," Serah replied. "The effects of changing the timeline are called paradox effects, and often lead to things, and people, being found in a time where they shouldn't be."

"Like Folken," Van remarked.

"Yes," replied Serah. She sighed and continued reluctantly, "Sometimes memories get disrupted, too. When the events of that time change, your memories become cloudy."

"I see," said Van. _Something must have happened to Hitomi, and that's why I can't remember her._ "So how do we fix the paradox?"

"Well, in my world, a time gate would appear which lead to a different point in the timeline. We'd use an artefact, or some item that doesn't belong in that time, to open the gate and travel through time. Usually paradoxes were resolved by solving puzzles or returning items to their proper eras," Serah shugged. "But who knows, it could be different on Gaea. The main point is to figure out what, or who, caused the shift in time."

She stood up, resolute. "Okay, the first thing we need is an artefact." She said pounding one fist into her palm. "Have you seen anything that shouldn't be around in this time?"

"Other than you?" Van joked. "Well, we haven't had a dragon attack in years, they usually keep to themselves," he said, digging into his pocket to produce the energist. "So I guess this could be considered an artefact."

"Good. All we need now is a gate."

"How do we find those?" Van asked.

"Well..." Serah faltered, hanging her head. "Usually we'd just wander around until we found one."

"Sounds good to me," said Van. He didn't like just sitting around talking when his world was turning itself inside out. It felt good to have a plan, but he would feel better when they put it into action.

They left the garden, heading towards the heart of the city. Immediately, Serah could tell there was a problem with their plan. Van was looking under every rock and behind every bush for the "time gate", though he had no idea what one looked like. It was so comical that Serah gave up looking herself and just watched him do his detective work. He was so serious! After five minutes, Van spied her watching him while he was lifting up a flower pot and became self-conscious and frustrated with her.

"You know, you could help me here," he said huffily.

Serah burst out laughing. Van looked indignant, which only made her laugh harder. She held out her palm towards him as if that would stop his futile search for time gates among the dust bunnies on the floor.

When she had calmed down, she gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry Van, I should have mentioned that time gates are about as large as a door frame." Van gave her an angry look. "They are round and very hard to miss, with swirly designs around them."

It was Van's turn to chuckle. "Swirly designs, eh?"

"You'll know what I mean when you see one," she said sharply.

It didn't take long until they encountered a growing crowd of people in the marketplace all craning their necks to get a view of something. _I'll bet my eye patch that the time gate is up ahead, _Serah thought. _Now we just need to find a way to get through these people. _Fortunately, she was walking with Lord Van, Prince of Fanelia. When the townspeople recognized him they drew back and cleared a path for them.

"Swirly designs..." Van mused as he looked up at the time gate. "I guess you have a point."

"Hey, let it go, will you?" Serah said with a playful little pout.

When she looked at the Gate, she grew serious. _This is it, proof that the timeline has changed._ The first time she had embarked on a journey through time she had been so determined to find her sister that she didn't think twice about the dangers involved. However, this journey had nothing to do with her. For Serah, there was nothing on the line, nothing pulling her to take the first step into the Historia Crux. She was scared about what would lie ahead and unsure if she could handle it. Without Mog, she had no weapon. Without Lightning at the end of the tunnel, she had no purpose. _Why do I feel like I need to help this guy, anyway? I only just met him. _

Van was inspecting the Gate from every angle, with the entire marketplace looking on. When he was satisfied he looked to Serah for guidance on how to open it. "So do I ...just," Van asked as he brought out the energist and held it near the Gate. The Gate started to change, which snapped Serah out of her introspection.

"Van, wait!" Serah shouted. _We aren't ready. This is too rushed. We should come back tomorrow, or next week. Or, hell, let's just leave this to someone else. _Van looked at her with excitement and anticipation. In that moment she saw in him everything that Hitomi had: enthusiasm, determination, and surprisingly, tenderness. She knew that he wouldn't force her to go with him, but he couldn't leave his world in this state. His friend, Merle, and his love Hitomi might be in trouble. So, instead of turning back, she said, "I don't have a weapon. Is there anywhere you could find me a bow and arrow?"

Van just looked about the townspeople until someone threw a bow and a quiver of arrows at Serah's feet. _Well, that was easy. _

"Are you ready now?" Van asked.

"Right, let's go!" Serah nodded and approached the Gate.

Van waved to his people as they disappeared into the flow of time...

**To Be Continued...**


	4. The Not-so-Gallant Prince

The Love of A Seeress

Chapter 4: The Not-So-Gallant Prince

_Time flows through space in what looks like a cross between a tunnel and a clock...? _Van thought to himself, a little bit disappointed. He had expected something a little more mystical. Floating in space beside Serah, he looked her over critically for the first time since they met: she looked young, but not much younger than his 19 years. She wore a short sleeveless dress that was white with pink straps criss-crossing her rib cage. The dress was very form-fitting, he allowed himself to note, and bare skin was visible on both sides of her hips. What made her seem so young, he decided, were the thigh-high stockings she wore. His eyes were drawn back to her bare hips... _I shouldn't stare; he scolded himself, at the very least because she probably will notice soon and... _

"Van?" Serah cautioned, warming with anger as she watched him give her a once-over before settling his eyes on her chest. "VAN!" she screamed, swatting at him. "Keep your eyes up here, please?" She said, pointing at her face.

Embarrassed, Van tried to play it off coolly, "I was merely noting the crest on your dress," he said conversationally. "Is it the symbol of your House?"

Serah hung her head, ashamed of what she had thought. Looking at the crest sewn in the very center of her dress, she shugged, "I've never really thought about it before. These clothes just kind of came to me the day I left on my last adventure."

Van was so relieved that she bought that. He would not let himself get _distracted_ again.

They were approaching the end of the tunnel. "What is going to happen when we leave the flow of time?" Van asked, suddenly apprehensive.

"We will appear in another time," Serah said, "another location probably," she added.

"Is there any way to tell where a Gate will take us before we enter it?" Van asked.

"Nope!" Serah replied. "That's what makes this an adventure, right?" she joked.

They were thrown forward before Van could make any reply to her rhetorical question. Both time travellers tumbled out of the gate, into a lush forest lit by the moonlight of the mystic moon. As Van assured himself he was still on Gaea, he was knocked backwards into a rose bush, complete with thorns. The culprit then tackled the unsuspecting Serah, and held her down by her shoulders. Serah looked up at the strange man, who seemed to have whiskers and glasses that reflected the moonlight perched on his small black nose. She shrieked in surprise, and struggled against her assaulter to get up.

The next thing Serah knew, the man had jumped off of her and was being attacked by a snowy white owl. Automatically, Serah reached for her bow, which she had strapped to her back. Another man walked out from the shadows. He only had eyes for what Serah could now describe as a mole-like man.

"So we meet again," he said, adjusting his white gloves, "Seems you've grown tired of petty thievery and now prefer attacking little girls. Oh dear."

Van overheard the commotion from the rose bush, but couldn't free himself from the thorns quickly enough. He shouted, "Hang on, Serah, I'll save you!" for what little good it did, it made him feel more useful.

Serah had an arrow trained on the moleman's navel from her kneeling position but didn't want to shoot him unless it was absolutely necessary. Then the man from the shadows ran towards the moleman and gave him an uppercut to the chin as he shouted "Idiot!"

"Who me?" asked Van furiously, as he stood up from the bush, scraped and bloody.

Both the man and Serah turned their heads to Van in surprise. "Allen?" Van said weakly, as he recognized the other man's face. He also noted the moleman unconscious on the ground.

"Van, I'm fine," Serah said to dispel some of the tension she felt between the two men. Van seemed to know the other man. He had long blonde hair and wore a long blue coat over a white shirt with puffy shoulders. With the cravat at his neck and the sword on his belt, he was everything she had ever imagined in a knight. He was also someone she had encountered, briefly, in her vision.

"Do you know this man?" Allen asked behind him, protectively shielding Serah in case Van proved to be another bandit.

"Sort of," she replied mildly. "But the question is: do_ you_ know him?"

Deciding that Van wasn't going to attack anyone, he turned and gave Serah the full attention of his blue eyes. "Why, you're a feisty little lady, aren't you?" he said amicably, noting her bow which she now held limply at her side. "No, I can't say that I do."

"Allen, it's me, Van Fanel, King of Fanelia!" he exclaimed. "We met four years ago at your castle in Asturia."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Van Fanel," Allen turned and gave Van a low bow that Serah guessed was slightly mocking. "I am Allen Schezar, Knight of Caeli."

_Wait a minute, _Van thought_, this looks familiar. Isn't this the exact same forest where I first saw Allen? Standing over Hitomi's unconscious body? _"Well if you don't remember me, surely you must remember Hitomi," Van said.

"Hi-to-mi? No, I've never met anyone with that name. It has a pleasant ring to it though," he mused. "Is that your name?" he asked Serah with a wink. She just shook her head.

Van was getting annoyed with Allen's pleasant mocking tone. _He's acting like he's never seen me before. But then again, we travelled through time, so maybe he hasn't. _With that revelation sinking in, he was about to say something when he started shaking violently. He lost consciousness and fell back into the rose bush. "Van!" shouted Serah in alarm. She rushed to his side, but was held back by Allen's arm barring her path.

"Be careful, little miss," Allen cautioned, "That plant produces a very strong poison that can give you a fever. That must be why he passed out." He then walked over and gracefully picked up Van's unconscious body. "Thankfully, I always wear gloves and long sleeves."

"Do you have an Antidote or Remedy you can give him?" Serah asked worriedly.

"Back at the keep we have some plants that have medicinal properties. If you grind the leaves, I can make the antidote for you."

"Okay," Serah agreed, as she followed Allen to his small raft on the river. Together, they managed to get Van safely onto the boat without capsizing. In the moonlight they glided swiftly on the calm river back to his keep, which turned out to be no more than a glorified barracks. Although they both had many questions, they didn't talk. The night was eerily peaceful and neither wanted to break its spell. Serah looked down at Van, his head resting on her lap. _Please be ok, _she wished_. We have only just begun our journey. Don't leave me here alone. _

Their arrival was punctuated with cat-calls and jokes at Serah's expense from the men of Allen's employ. Graciously, he warned that the next man to make a rude remark about her would answer for it in a 'melef match'. Serah didn't know what a melef was, but the threat definitely shut them up.

They brought Van into a spare room and laid him on the bed. "Will you be alright waiting here while I gather the leaves?" he asked, trusting an unconscious man over the dozen or so men in the common room who were _very_ conscious of what Serah was wearing.

Serah nodded. Allen bowed to her as he left the room and closed the door.

**To Be Continued…**


	5. A New and Terrible Future

The Love of A Seeress

Chapter 5: A New and Terrible Future

The small noise of the door closing was enough to rouse Van, albeit momentarily. Serah knelt beside his bed and held his hand. Van didn't open his eyes, but she could tell he was in pain. His skin had been shredded by the thorns, but although he was covered in blood, there were no deep wounds. Serah wished she had asked for a cloth and some water to wash his cuts. She considered ripping a strip of cloth from her dress, but then she remembered the cat-calls from the other men. She rationalized that Allen would return any moment, and then she could ask for a proper washcloth. Again, Van winced, and suddenly she could no longer wait for Allen's return. So, instead of ripping her own clothes…

Van's head was pounding as he lifted his heavy eyelids. He felt so warm. He couldn't remember where he was or why he was so tired, but something was tugging at his shirt. With great effort, Van managed to focus his eyes and look down his body, and saw a pink haired girl sitting on his bed tearing a strip off his favourite red shirt. He jumped out of bed frantically, causing the girl to let out a shriek in surprise. Half of the shirt was left in her hand, leaving Van with a ragged tear that exposed his stomach. The door opened on the scene with Van in the corner, arms crossed in front of himself in modesty, and Serah on the bed shouting: "Van, I was only trying to help!"

Allen cleared his throat dramatically. They both looked in his direction, embarrassed. Serah jumped off the bed and, noticing the remains of Van's shirt in her hands, offered the red cloth back to Van. He took it, but wasn't sure what to do with it.

"Van, you really should get some rest," said Allen waging a finger at him. "Your wound has been infected with some plant poison. Perhaps your friend should come with me and leave you with a little privacy?"

Van was only now becoming aware of where he was. Thinking for him felt like walking through deep mud. He remembered that he and Serah had travelled through time and met Allen in the woods. He also remembered the point in time that this corresponded to: when he and Hitomi were transported out of Fanelia during a battle against Zaibach. _If this is the same time, why didn't we come across Hitomi in the woods as well? _In his fevered state, he remembered what was going to happen next and shouted to Allen: "Zaibach is coming for you next! They will attack you here and burn everything to the ground!" and with that outburst, he passed out again.

The outburst startled Allen but he recovered quickly. He and Serah arranged Van on the bed again, and with the cloth and water that Allen provided, Serah began washing his cuts. Allen gave her a sidelong glance as he began crushing the leaves.

"What is your name, sweetheart? I don't think we've been properly introduced."

"Oh, right." Serah said, getting up from her knees. She bowed as she introduced herself: "My name is Serah Feron."

Allen had also gotten up from the floor. "Nice to meet you, Serah. Though I do apologize for the circumstances…"

Serah nodded solemnly, looking back at Van. She went back to washing his wounds.

"Are you also from Fenalia?" Allen asked. While she paused, he added, "How do you know each other?"

Serah was unsure how much to tell this man. Considering that they had not found Hitomi here, they probably wouldn't stick around much longer after Van recovered from his fever. She decided to play it safe for now, "Yes, I'm from Fanelia. I'm Van's… cousin." She said, wringing out the cloth.

"Ah, I see," Allen replied, though he didn't see any resemblance between them. "And what were you doing in the forest in the middle of the night?" he asked lightly.

"We were…" Serah trailed off, trying to come up with a lie. "He was teaching me how to hunt."

Allen wasn't buying it, she could tell, so she elaborated, "Yeah, I only just learned how to use a bow and arrow, so he was helping me hunt birds…" _Shoot, what kind of bird is nocturnal? _"…owls."

"Owls?" Allen raised an eyebrow.

"I meant bats," Serah corrected, after remembering that an owl had saved her from the mole man. "Umm… we hunt them for sport in Fanelia," she lied, having no idea what they hunted in Fanelia.

"How very peculiar," said Allen.

It took about an hour of grinding before the antidote was ready. Allen and Serah both took turns with the mortar and pestle. Serah applied the paste to all Van's open cuts and covered him with a light blanket. She was exhausted. Morning light was already streaming into the room from the only window. Allen provided Serah with a quilt and pillow and she laid down on the floor beside Van's bed and tried to sleep. Allen had first offered her his own bed for her to sleep in, but she told him she preferred to be there if Van needed anything. She wasn't sure if Allen was just a gentleman or if he was trying to seduce her. As she drifted off to sleep, she tried to think of other things. She imagined Lightning was in the room, stroking her hair, as she used to do when they were very young.

* * *

Van awoke slowly, half in a dream. He stretched out and yawned. Rolling over, he opened his eyes. When he saw the room he was in, however, he bolted upright in bed. _Allen's keep. So it wasn't a dream. _Van checked himself over, and although his shirt was ruined, no other major damage was visible. He took off what was left of the shirt and threw it in the corner. Noticing the light of the sun outside he judged it to be about midday. A noise from the floor caught his attention, and he observed a bundle of blankets lying next to his bed. Pink hair poked out from the top of the blanket. _Merle? _he instinctively thought before he remembered the painful truth. _No,_ _Serah_.

"AreyouawakeVan?" Serah mumbled, still mostly asleep.

"Yes," said Van softly, not trying to wake her further if he could help it. "Go back to sleep."

Serah snuggled the quilt closer to herself as she let those words sink in. When they did, she threw off her covers and looked over at him, excited. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Good," Van replied. "Normal. Thanks to you."

"And Allen," Serah added, not wanting to take all the credit. Suddenly she felt like this moment had become too intimate. She got up abruptly and walked over to the door. "Let's go find us some breakfast."

"Wait, Serah," Van said, causing Serah to turn around. He was sitting on the bed, shirtless, looking up at her. She tried to focus on the pendant that graced his collarbone. "I think I know what time it is."

Serah gave him a confused look. "Well I guess it's probably lunch time," she said, worried that his brain might have been affected by the fever.

"No, that's not what I meant," Van shook his head. "I think I know… WHEN we are." Serah nodded with a look of understanding, so he continued. "The last time I was here was four years ago. The Zaibach Empire had just launched a sneak attack on Fanelia with invisible guymelefs. In the middle of a battle, Hitomi and I were transported here in a pillar of light. We met Allen Schezar in the woods, much the same way as you did; though it was Hitomi who was attacked by Moleman."

"Okay, but I didn't see Hitomi in the woods," Serah said, thinking about what that might mean.

"Neither did I," Van replied. "But listen: Hitomi had been poisoned that time and I made the antidote. This time, _I_ was the one who was poisoned." Van got off the bed and started pacing. "Hitomi had a vision that Zaibach would follow us to Asturia and burn this very keep to the ground."

"And it happened, didn't it?" Serah understood now what Van had been ranting about while feverish.

"Yes," Van said.

"But if the timeline is changed and Hitomi isn't here, do you think they'll still attack?" Serah asked. "Should we warn Allen?"

"I think we should, just in case," Van replied. Absently, he reached for the pendant at his neck. _Where are you, Hitomi?_

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Startled, Van answered, "Come in." It was Allen, coming to check in on his guests.

"How are you doing, Van?" Allen asked, seeing that he was awake. "Has his fever gone down?" he asked Serah, who nodded in reply.

"Allen, there may be an attack coming," Van started, eager to let him know what was to come, and willing him to believe what he said. "The Zaibach Empire launched an attack on Fanelia last night. We were fortunate to have escaped because we were already a distance from the city when they struck." Van glanced over at Serah, urging her to stay quiet and follow his lead.

Allen was impressed with how quickly the King of Fanelia's mind turned to business and diplomacy. However, he would have been a fool to take this warning without proof. "If you two were out of the city; _hunting,_" Allen added, with a wink in Serah's direction, "Then how do you know that it was _Zaibach_ attacking? Couldn't it just as easily have been another country?"

That had Van stumped for a second, so Serah chimed in with: "We saw their crest!" She thought that had been very clever.

"Okay, then," Allen conceded. "But why would they attack Asturia? We are their allies."

"They seek to control all of Gaea from a position of power," Van said, not wanting to go into the details about how they were trying to harness the power of Atlantis.

Allen didn't seem to be convinced, and maybe he thought Van was reacting to a fever dream. Regardless, Serah could tell Van was losing the knight's interest so she added, "This attack may not come for a few days, so perhaps just increasing the patrol of your borders would be sufficient for now."

The blonde knight seemed to think on it. She hoped that he would be more interested in not offending visiting royalty than proving Van was wrong. In the end, Allen did just what Serah suggested.

Later that day, soldiers from the border patrol returned with interesting news. Serah and Van were with Allen when he was told about the Zaibach attack on Fanelia. To Van's surprise, they continued to report that very little damage was done to the city but their King had been captured, along with his guymelef, Escaflowne.

Van made a run for the man to attack him, but was held back by Allen's guards. "He's lying," Van shouted. "Fanelia was burned to the ground!"

Allen was giving orders to have Van locked up for impersonating a King. Van managed to free himself from the guards' hold but as he reached to draw his sword, Serah grabbed his arm. "Run!" She yelled at him, and took off towards the outer gates of the keep.

Seeing her plan as the wiser choice, Van followed her, with guards hot on his heels. Knowing that it would be faster to fly, he ripped off the shirt Allen had lent him as wings burst from his back. He caught up to Serah, a ways ahead of him, and reached to her from above. "Take my hand!" he yelled with urgency. Her eyes widened as she looked up at the angel above her, a man with a wingspan of six feet of snowy white feathers. In her vision, she had seen Van's wings, but she hadn't believed they were real. She jumped as she extended her hand and Van caught it. He flew them over the gates and didn't land until they were well outside the castle. Van set Serah down lightly as he landed.

On the ground once again, Van took to pacing about. His wings had already disappeared. He was agitated. _Why would the soldiers claim that I had been taken hostage by Zaibach? _It didn't make any sense.

Serah tried to talk to him, but he kept ignoring her and walking away. Finally, she shouted in her stern teacher voice: "Van, you listen to me this instant!" Van snapped his head up and turned to face her. "That's better." She said. "Now, I understand that you think that Fanelia burned to the ground…"she started, knowing full well that he would try to interrupt her again.

"I KNOW it burned," Van said, touchy about the subject.

"Yes, Van," Serah allowed. "But remember that the timeline has been disrupted. Things may occur here that never did in the past you remember."

His head dropped to his chest as Van realized she was right. He had been so caught up in the memory of his homeland burning at the hands of Zaibach that he hadn't been thinking clearly. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he thought it through. "So in this version of time," he started, unsure what else to call it, "I was captured by Zaibach when they attacked."

"Right," Serah agreed.

"Theoretically, they only burned the city because I got away last time." Van continued. "It was Hitomi that must have caused us to be transported here. And so," he finished "Hitomi must not have been with me when Zaibach attacked this time."

"That makes sense to me," Serah replied.

Saying it was one thing, but when Van thought it through he still couldn't process a timeline without Hitomi in it. _When did she disappear? Did she never come to Gaea in the first place? _Thinking about Hitomi, Van reached for the pendant at his neck. All of a sudden, the stone began to glow and a pillar of light appeared next to Van that went straight up into the sky. It was gone as suddenly as it came, leaving both him and Serah blinking in its wake.

Excitedly, Van looked over in hopes to find Hitomi by his side. However, she did not appear. Van waved his arms over the space, but couldn't feel anything. The wind blew, rustling his hair and caught the edged of a piece of paper that was left behind when the pillar dissipated. Van snatched it up eagerly, expecting a letter from Hitomi, explaining her absence. It was a tarot card. _The ace of serpents?_

Looking over his shoulder, Serah observed the card with curiosity. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's a tarot card," Van replied. "Hitomi used them to predict the future."

"What does this card mean?" she asked, "It kind of looks like a dragon…" she reached out to touch it. As she did, the card began to glow, and a large mech warrior emerged from the card to stand before her. Serah became aware that this was the guymelef named Escaflowne. Around her the sky darkened and she found herself back in Fanelia. There were sounds of fighting all around her; buildings were toppling over, seemingly of their own accord. The defending guymelefs were struck down by liquid steel appearing in mid-air. Escaflowne stood behind her and was struggling to anticipate where the enemy would strike from. On the shoulder of the mech was a young girl with pointy ears and pink hair. Serah also suspected that she saw a tail poking out from behind her. A voice in Serah's ear whispered, "Van, look out!" Ahead, a spear of steel was shot in the direction of Escaflowne. The cat-girl saw it too, and before it could hit the cockpit, the girl jumped down from her perch. She was skewered by the spear but the guymelef was unharmed. "Nooo!" shouted Escaflowne as a young Van exited the guymelef. "Merle!" He jumped down to street level, where the body of the cat-girl lay in a pool of blood. The spear had been nearly twice her size. The air seemed to shimmer as the guymelefs removed their stealth cloaks and surrounded Van. Understanding that the battle was lost, Van stood and offered Zaibach the sign of surrender: two hands in the air.

The moment Serah touched the card; Van felt a spark pass from it to her. Turning, he saw her knees give out and her eyes grow wide. He caught her from falling, but when they touched, Van was brought into the vision as well. In horror, he witnessed Merle's last tribute to_ her _Lord Van; she gave her life to save his.

Both returned from the vision recoiling from the card, as if it had conjured that horrible fate into being.

Van didn't trust his voice right now, so he said nothing. What could he say? The vision told him that his best friend and adopted sister had died. How could he live without Merle? In this version of events, without Hitomi to send him to safety, his only true friend had died instead. Emotions raged within him; anger, sorrow, anguish, futility, helplessness, revenge. His troubled heart called to him the one thing that could bring him his vengeance: Escaflowne.

Seeing the effect that the vision had on Van, Serah hugged him tightly. He struggled against her, but it was a half-hearted attempt and she held on until he quieted. The wind picked up, now gusting sand and debris into their faces. Absently, Serah caught the tarot card before it was blown away. Even with their backs turned against it, the wind blew so hard that Serah was almost knocked over. Van faced the wind, and spied a familiar sight going into a nose-dive above them. In its dragon form, Escaflowne landed next to Van and bowed its neck to the ground. With an excited laugh, Van tugged on Serah's hand as he led her up the neck and onto its back.

Serah tried to ask Van what it was, but she never got the chance as he grabbed the reigns and took off from the ground. The world just fell behind them as Van piloted them up into the skies.

From his vantage point, Van was able to see Allen's castle and, farther off, the Zaibach floating fortress from which Escaflowne must have escaped. Alseides units were disembarking the fortress and flying in their direction. "Oh, so it's a chase you want…" Van said under his breath, as he urged the dragon into its faster jet-like form. Serah barely had the chance to wrap her arms around his waist before Van accelerated straight for the fortress. Van was blinded by his need for revenge. _This is for Merle, _he thought as he prepared himself for the upcoming battle.

Forcing herself to open her eyes, Serah found that they were in a collision course with a large ship made of floating rocks. Looking around for alternative courses, she counted herself lucky as she spotted a time Gate just below the ship. Knowing Van was feeling desperate to avenge his friend, she figured he wouldn't change his mind; so she would just have to change it for him. She gathered her strength and waited until the last second before they were upon the ship. She grabbed the reigns from Van's hands, lifting them sharply and putting the dragon into a dive. Van was knocked off balance and could scarcely react before they were entering the Gate, with the tarot card granting them access.

As they again disappeared into the flow of time, Van looked back and made a solemn vow that he would make Zaibach pay. No matter what. No matter **When**.

**To Be Continued…**


	6. The Price of Magic

The Love of A Seeress

Chapter 6: The Price of Magic

"Our fate prognostication engine has picked up the signal of the dragon and the unknown element," the pixilated screen declared. "Folken, you must act quickly, and remove them both before they disappear again."

"Of course, Emperor Dornkirk," The tall man replied.

"You will find them in Asturia, at Palas." The signal feed ended abruptly.

Folken stood in the dark room for a few moments to collect his thoughts. _Van, why did you come back? I had hoped you'd freed yourself of this fate. _As he left the chamber he was joined by two svelt women that looked identical, right up to their large cat-like ears. "Ah, Naria, Eriya, It seems that your intensified luck is already proving its worth. We have located the dragon." He said as he led them to the guymelef storage room. They followed him obediently. "I need you to apprehend both the dragon and his companion."

"We live to serve you, Lord Folken," they happily replied together.

"We are just nearing Palas now. Let nothing get in your way," Folken paused, aware of their matched eyes following his lips and not his words. "Do not hesitate to use extreme force, we need these two captives." Telling them to be careful would only undermine their objectives, though he wanted to keep the women safe. He wished his brother, Van, had not been caught up in this war for a new and better future. But as a high ranking officer, he must do his duty first, even if it hurts him to know that his brother may have to be killed.

* * *

There was no space between times, no clock-tunnel, not a moment to collect their thoughts before they were thrust out into a bright clear sky. Van and Serah moved seamlessly into another unknown time, astride the dragon Escaflowne. Angrily, the shirtless man grabbed the reins back from Serah and pushed her aside.

"Why did you do that?" Van demanded, having just had his revenge interrupted by time travel.

"Because you weren't thinking clearly-" Serah started, but he cut her off.

"How do you know what I was thinking?" Van shouted over the wind. "You hardly know me!"

"Van, I-"

"Listen, I'm going to land-," Van took the time now to investigate the area, and realized they were in Palas, the seaside city. He had been looking for somewhere to land and be rid of Serah, but now his memories of the place were running wild. He remembered being tackled by Hitomi down there, on the bridge,_ inches_ away from being killed by a sneak attack by Dilandau. Again he felt the surge of pride that came with being the hero when he saved Hitomi from being kidnapped. Still, he felt the longing that had gripped him on the roof of the windmill, the day he brought her back to Gaea. It was all so long ago, but still she colored his perception of this city. Without her, his past meant nothing.

Van knew Serah was only trying to help him. She knew about time travel and paradoxes, and he needed her expertise if he was ever to find Hitomi again. It was anger and revenge that drove him to attacking the Zaibach floating fortress and Serah had picked up on that. A bloody revenge would have satisfied him for a moment, but it wouldn't have changed the fact that Merle was dead. He needed to figure out why the timeline was disrupted and fix the problem at its source.

Having had a moment to calm down, Van changed his tact, "We'll land over there, by that windmill. I know this city and no one will bother us there," he heaved a large sigh before saying, "Let's just figure out what to do next."

Serah was grateful Van had swallowed his pride. She would be lost in this world without him.

They both fell into a thoughtful silence as Van flew them above the ocean, towards the windmill he'd pointed out. The sun was shining brightly and its rays were reflected on the surface of the water. Serah carefully removed her eye patch to enjoy the scenery. Blinking twice, she was relieved to note that her eye was back to normal. It would have been one thing to be abandoned on a strange planet alone, but quite another to be stranded _and_ half-blind. Determined not to think this way, she shook her head to clear the dismal thoughts. Instead, she watched the seagulls circle around them as she puzzled over what they had learned about the timeline.

The calming scene was disrupted by the appearance of two guymelefs on the horizon. They were speeding towards Van and Serah. As they closed in on Escaflowne, Van recognized the units. "Intensified luck soldiers!" he gasped. Speeding up, he attempted to evade them.

"Luck… what?" Serah asked, holding Van tightly in an effort to stay on the dragon's back.

"These guymelefs are from Zaibach. They are very dangerous," Van answered, steering Escaflowne towards the mainland. If they were fast enough, they might be able to land before the guymelefs reached them. His arm muscles corded as he forced the beast beneath them to go faster. But it was too little, too late, and the guymelefs flanked Escaflowne. Immediately, Van noticed the dragon was not responding to his controls. "No, not again!" Van exclaimed as Escaflowne began falling.

Serah's stomach was suddenly in her throat as they plummeted several feet before Van regained control of his guymelef. The attackers surrounded them and one of them said, "Surrender now to the Zaibach Empire!"

"Never!" shouted Van, snapping Escaflowne's reins causing the dragon to blast forward in jet-mode.

Not giving chase immediately, the attackers watched the dragon flee. "You should have known he wouldn't give in so easily, Naria," said Eriya, teasing.

"It was worth a try," Naria said lightly. "Now let's show them what intensified luck can do!"

Over the rushing wind, Serah cried "What's going on? Why are they chasing us?" At this speed, Serah could barely see with her hair whipping her violently in the face. Van kept looking behind them at their attackers.

"They want to take us captive," Van replied.

"Why?" Serah cried.

"I'm not sure," Van said. "But it's impossible to get near them without losing control of Escaflowne."

The two guymelefs were nearly upon them again. Even at their speed, the pursuers were able to catch them. Serah realized that they weren't going to outrun them, so she reached for her bow. Looking over his shoulder, Van cautioned her, "Serah that isn't going to stop them! Their luck protects them from any of our attacks."

"You just worry about flying. I'll take care of them," Serah smirked. "I'm pretty lucky, myself," she said, pulling out her lucky coin from her satchel. Coin in hand, she turned around and faced the attackers. "What do you want from us?" she shouted at them, unsure whether they could hear her.

They responded by firing rounds of liquid metal at them. Van managed to evade the barrage. Bringing Escaflowne around to face them, he asked Serah what she was thinking. Her arm brushed his as she moved up next to him, ready to attack with her bow poised and an arrow notched. Focusing on the guymelef to the left, she charged the arrow with lightning. "Magic?" he guessed, feeling the electricity like static in the air.

"Take this!" she said, releasing the arrow. It struck home right through the visor of the left guymelef. A surge of electricity went through the mech. The injured guymelef stopped in midair to remove the arrow.

Van was trying to keep a steady course for Serah, but the closer the other luck soldier got, the less control he had over Escaflowne. While Serah was reaching behind her for another arrow, they began to drop again. Having been concentrating on her target, Serah was nearly pitched out into midair. Van grabbed her dress to steady her. "Are you ok?" Van asked as he stabilized their altitude.

"Fine," Serah breathed, her heart racing from the prospect of falling. "Let's try again."

As they turned to face the luck soldiers again, Serah sighted the one on the right this time. A barrage of liquid metal fire surprised her, and Van shouted in agony. They had hit his arm, leaving a deep gouge just above his elbow. The wound was smoking and the edges looked charred. Sweating from the effort, Van managed to turn them around to fly away, still using both arms to pilot the dragon. Serah put her bow away and touched Van's wound. "Be still," she warned him as held his arm. Van tried to focus on their flight path, but a cooling sensation that went up his arm caused him to look down. Serah had used her magic to heal his wound. There wasn't even a scar.

_That was too close_, she thought. Raising her arms above her head, a shimmering semi-transparent dome surrounded both her and Van. He turned sharply to avoid it, thinking it was a solid barrier. "What was that?" he shouted.

"A protective spell," Serah replied. "It will shield us from their physical attacks."

The wind was against them now, and their retreat was slowed by the gale. It seemed like nature was turning against them.

"This is the power of luck intensification!" the guymelef with silver hair declared happily. As she and the other drew even with Escaflowne again.

Resolutely, Serah turned to face their attackers and raised her lucky coin to her lips. _Don't let me down. _Then she drew on her magic once more as she flung the coin directly at the luck soldiers. They were engulfed in a ball of fire. Seizing the opportunity, Van headed for the mainland again. The guymelefs didn't follow them this time. Van landed Escaflowne in a grassy area near the city. A cloud of smoke remained in the sky where the luck soldiers had been. It was impossible to tell if they were still there or if they had fallen into the sea below.

"I don't think we've seen the last of them," Van stated as he dismounted Escaflowne. Offering Serah a hand, he helped the girl down as she continued staring at the sky. He held her hand longer than was necessary to get her attention. When her large blue eyes shifted to him he thanked her, "for healing my arm," he said as he let her hand slip from his.

Serah ducked her head in acknowledgement. "It was nothing," she replied, uncomfortable with the sincere gratitude he was showing her.

Van snorted, "It was not nothing." Almost to himself he added, "Your powers are incredible. If I could call fire like that…"

"These powers that you admire," Serah said, giving him her full attention, "Came with a price." She had gone from flustered to defensive in a minute. Leaning against Escaflowne, she continued. "Back on Cocoon, people like me were considered cursed. The Fal'Cie choose their minions, the l'Cie, and give them a Focus, or task they must complete. Sure, they provide them with magical abilities and increased strength; but should they refuse, or fail in their Focus, they become monstrous Cieth, shambling about for all eternity. If by some chance they did complete their Focus, they are turned to crystal, where they remain forever asleep." Serah scoffed, "If I could have chosen between using magic and having a life that _didn't_ end either as a mindless zombie or in crystal prison, I would have chosen the latter." Her face was flushed from the sudden release of her pent up frustration.

Van put his arms up in front of him to show Serah he hadn't meant any harm. He hadn't realized that Serah had been cursed with these powers against her will. Silence followed her confession while Serah tried to calm herself down and Van took in the information thoughtfully.

"What was your Focus?" he asked softly after a moment, aware that it might be a personal question.

"To save Cocoon," she answered absently, thinking back to the day she had become a l'Cie and her life had changed forever.

"You told me once that you chose to die to save the world," Van remarked. "Is this what you meant, that you chose to complete your Focus even though you knew you would be turned to crystal?"

"It's a long story, Van," answered Serah. And it had been. She had come a long way from the cursed Pulse l'Cie fugitive that she had been four years ago. Back then she had been so afraid of her fate. She had tried to explain to Snow that her life was forfeit; that even if she did complete her Focus, she would be lost to him, frozen in a crystal coma. Against all odds, she had been freed from her crystal and given a second chance at life. It wasn't until she began travelling through time that she understood that she hadn't escaped her fate, that she had only postponed the inevitable. The visions of the timeline that she experienced were shortening her life, and as they changed events back to how they were supposed to be, her visions became more frequent. At the end, she knew any further changes to the timeline would kill her, but she hadn't been afraid. Noel had tried to talk her out of it, telling her that he would give up his hope for a better future in order to protect her life. However, by then she had accepted her destiny.

Waiting for Serah to continue, Van ran his hands along Escaflowne's frame, inspecting it for damage from the recent battle. After noting that there were only a few dents in the armor, Van suspected that Serah was not going to answer his question.

"Why don't we get something to eat?" he suggested to the distraught strawberry blonde. She only nodded in agreement, lost in her own recollections. Curious as he was about her past, Van figured she might open up more if he just gave her some time.

They hid Escaflowne in the windmill as Van had suggested earlier. Just outside the city, small family farms dotted the landscape. As they walked along the main road into the city, Van spotted a clothesline outside one of these farms, and being shirtless still, he borrowed one of the shirts hanging on it. Normally he wouldn't even consider stealing, but he suspected that he would attract some odd looks if he entered the city half naked and he hadn't any money to buy a new shirt. The shirt was full sleeved and made of white breathable material. A string tied the V-neck closed.

As Van slid the shirt over his head, Serah was moved from her serious thoughts to admire the last look she had of Van's bare chest and stomach before the shirt fell into place. Though she had noticed that Van was handsome when they first met, she had been preoccupied by the nagging worry that she was dead. And later, at Allen's keep, she had been so concerned about Van's well-being that she hadn't allowed herself to be _distracted_. But now, away from danger, at least for the moment, she saw Van in a completely different way. Her heart fluttered a moment as she remembered touching his bare skin as she had applied the ointment to his wounds. _Stop it! _She told herself. _This is not how an engaged woman should be thinking. _

Though, when she did think of her fiancé Snow, her mind was led back to Sunleth Waterscape. Nonchalant as always, his first words to Noel had been that their engagement was "on hold for now". Those words had been eating at her heart since they left his lips. Not "I'm looking forward to the day we are finally wed" or anything even remotely romantic. Not having seen Snow since then, there had been no chance for him to redeem himself. Knowing that a life together built on a rotten foundation would only crumble and fall, she tried to rid herself of her marriage jitters. But it was moments like these, when Snow was so far away that Serah couldn't rid herself of the feeling that they were completely wrong for each other. These and impure thoughts about Van consumed her and it was a few minutes before she noticed she had been staring at Van's chest the whole time.

"Keep your eyes up here, please," Van pointed to his face, mocking Serah who was turning an amusing shade of red. His teasing had been innocent enough, but he felt a surge of electricity through his veins that had nothing to do with Serah's magical arrows. The way she had been looking at him made it feel like something had changed between them.

Immediately, Serah hid inside herself and gave him an empty smile. "I was just looking at your crest," she winked. Trying to act aloof she skipped along the road in front of Van. "So where do we find some food?" she asked, adding, "Are we going to have to steal that, too?"

Not rising to the bait, Van looked around for somewhere to eat. None of the shops near them seemed to be open. In fact, the area looked deserted. They were just inside the city proper now, and the market should have been teeming with people. Only two things had emptied the markets of Palas in Van's memory: war and a wedding.

Van grabbed Serah's hand and hurried down the street deeper into the city. Startled, Serah kept pace with him to avoid being dragged. "I'm not _that_ hungry, Van," she complained, "We don't need to- Oh!" Turning a corner, they had full view of the main canal. The populace of Palas were crowded along the banks, looking on two traditional gondolas floating down the canals. The closer boat was extravagantly adorned and held a beautiful woman dressed like a princess. Next to her in the other boat, Serah assumed was a man, though his garb consisted of a floppy hat that hid his face from view.

"What's going on?" she asked, taking in the scene.

"Princess Millerna's wedding," Van said softly. Still holding her hand, Van moved up in the crowd to get a closer view. The good-natured crowd allowed them through. Now, Serah picked up on the name Millerna in the conversations around her.

The gondolas had passed behind a building and were now hidden from their view. People in the crowd rushed to move on from this area, following the progress of the two boats as they made their way through the city. "Where are they going?" Serah inquired, as they joined the crowd.

"To the castle, where the ceremony will be held," Van replied. "Would you like to see an Asturian wedding?" he asked.

"Sounds like fun!" Serah responded, caught up in the enthusiasm of the people around them. Her smile warmed his heart. Wanting to impress her, Van decided to bring her to the castle, though he didn't know whether his royal status would be accepted in this version of time.

Hand-in-hand, Van led Serah away from the crowd and up a flight of stone steps. He moved about the city like he knew where he was going, but Serah was confused as to why they didn't just follow the rest of the populace. After ten minutes of winding streets and small bridges over the canals, she found herself in front of the impressive gates to the castle in the heart of the city. Guards lined the doors, swords in hand. When Van introduced himself as King of Fenalia and friend of Princess Millerna, the guards took a moment to discuss amongst themselves before allowing them entrance. Beyond the castle gates, the people were more elaborately dressed. They joined a group near the railing that fenced off the courtyard where the ceremony was about to take place.

Their timing couldn't have been better. Just as they arrived, the princess disembarked the gondola and began to walk the long red carpet towards the altar. Walking beside her was the man in the floppy hat, their hands clasped in between them. The whole spectacle, from the royal couple to the people around them was so foreign and exciting, that Serah was overwhelmed trying to absorb it all. Her feet protested as she stood on tiptoes to get a glimpse of the princess. Van stood silently, observing the scene while enjoying the feeling of her small, soft hand in his.

When they reached the altar, the royal couple kneeled and the man removed his formal hat, letting his long golden locks trail down his back.

"_Allen_?"

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you are enjoying this fic, because I'm having a blast writing it! Please Review XD  
**

_Coming up- The wedding is interrupted and Serah and Van become separated in time._**  
**


	7. Separate Paths

The Love of A Seeress

Chapter 7: Separate Paths

Today was not the day Millerna was meant to be wed. It was true in the previous timeline, and remains true regardless of who she intended to marry. Destiny is one of the forces that escape human perception but affect everything we do, akin to gravity. It is not to say that every event in a life is predetermined, but that everyone has a purpose. Anything that affects their fulfillment of that purpose was not meant to be, and will only lead to hardship. This lesson and more awaited the young princess as she stood in front of God and country to profess her undying love to Allen Schezar.

* * *

Becoming accustomed now to changes in the timeline, Van took this one with little more than a scoff_. At least now he won't be after Hitomi,_ he thought.

Serah leaned closer and whispered to him, "Was Millerna supposed to marry someone else?"

"Yes, the way I remember it, this was to be a political wedding between her and Dryden, a wealthy merchant and son of a friend of the King," Van whispered back, his lips nearly touching her ear. The sensation caused her to shiver and she was unable to concentrate on anything he had just said. "I don't know how she convinced her father to allow this wedding, considering his distrust of Allen."

"Who knows what has happened this time around? Maybe Allen has proven himself worthy."

"Perhaps," Van allowed. It wasn't clear to him what had happened to Dryden. From his limited experience with the King of Asturia, he didn't seem the type to let his daughter marry for love when she could solidify a political allegiance. He had done so with her older sister Marlene, who had been married off to the Duke of Freid. _Maybe Dryden just disappeared like Hitomi._ Having lost interest in the wedding, he began fiddling with his pendant, dropping Serah's hand in the process.

A woman with an overzealous hat complete with feathers shifted in front of Serah, blocking her view. Even on her tiptoes, she couldn't see anything. Determined to take in the whole ceremony (and no longer holding hands with Van), she decided to find a better vantage point upstairs. Leaning against a stone pillar near the stairs, Van gave her a nod as he watched her go.

He didn't know why, but this marriage made him anxious. Could it be that he felt guilty for holding hands with Serah, while on a quest to save Hitomi? The fact that Millerna had, in one version of events , been ready to spend the rest of her life with Dryden, when it was clear as day that she had been in love with Allen only deepened his sense of culpability. Was he doing the same thing? There was something about Serah that was so _familiar_. It felt right, holding her hand. In his mind he knew that he loved Hitomi, but, as Serah had warned him, his memories of her were getting more difficult to recall. While all the _events_ were there, it was the little things that escaped him. _What color was her hair?_ He asked himself, distressed that even this small detail was lost. Holding the pendant ever tighter, he tried to visualize Hitomi. _Picture what you want to find in your mind. Clear your mind and concentrate as hard as you can. If you focus your thoughts you can find her. _

Dodging a bear-like man, Serah climbed the crowded stairs to a viewing gallery. The air was fresher here than down below where many bodies pressed together stifled the breeze. Though all the seats here were taken, she was able to lean against the railing without anyone behind her protesting. The high priest was saying "…children of Asturia, a land blessed with rich wind and water and embraced by both the sun and the moon. This day bears witness to a blessed event…"

In his mind's eye, Van caught a glimpse of a pleated skirt and then a running shoe. Again he remembered Hitomi's voice saying, _make the image clear…_ He pictured her lips poised in a playful pout, and those big blue eyes. He saw the strength in her arms as she notched an arrow, and the bare skin of her hips. When her pink side ponytail came into view, he cursed himself. _Hitomi, why isn't this working?_ Frustrated, he ripped off the pendant, snapping the chain. Balled in his fist, the pendant began to shine, and the pink light escaped between his closed fingers. His hope restored, Van eagerly opened his hand. To his dismay, the pendant was gone, leaving a crumpled tarot card in its place.

The sky darkened, causing Van to look up. A solar eclipse brought the city into a premature twilight. Some shouting above caught Van's attention. As he was trying to figure out what was going on, a woman's scream pierced the air. Fearing for his companion's safety, he headed for the stairs. Several men rushed up the steps ahead of him, and unable to get past them, he instead ran to the front of the crowd, towards the altar. Time stopped as he witnessed someone fall from the gallery overhead.

"No_. Serah!"_ he shouted as he recognized her pink hair. Though he was running flat out, he was too far away. Desperately, he reached out his arms towards her. As Serah was about to make contact with the pavement, a time gate appeared below her. Upon contact, both she and the gate vanished. "Wait!" Seconds too late, Van beat his fists violently against the ground where the time gate had been. He looked up sharply at the railing from which Serah had fallen. Strange faces stared down at him, more surprised than he that the young woman had vanished. Perplexed, he flashed back to Serah's face the instant before she'd disappeared. _Had she been smiling?_

* * *

"What's that?" asked Millerna, having just sealed her marriage to Allen with a kiss. "A solar eclipse?"

"It's an ill omen," worried the high priest.

As two guymelefs advanced on the castle, one of the guards shouted "it's an enemy attack!"

"Zaibach," cursed Allen.

The army guards readied their guymelefs but the defenses were riddled with misfortune. Ballistics malfunctioned. Ropes snapped. Guymelef units fell without cause. Dark clouds were gathering. Allen made a move to his guymelef, Scherazade, but Millerna held him back. Just then lightning struck a nearby tower, and the debris rained down on the royal couple; some pieces larger than the guymelefs that tried to save them. Allen dove to protect Millerna, and was injured when stone slab crushed his ribs and his left arm.

"Allen!" Millerna cried.

The roaring thunderclap that followed the lightning brought Van's attention back to the present. Seeing the royal couple in danger, Van rushed over to them. From above, both luck soldiers watched the chaos ensue.

Millerna had fashioned a tourniquet from the fabric of her wedding dress when Van reached them. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"Van!" Allen shouted, in recognition. And then, seeing the two guymelefs land behind him he warned, "Look out!"

Heeding his warning, Van dove behind the remnants of the fallen tower.

A booming voice cut through the pandemonium. _"Attention people of Asturia: we are the Zaibach Intensified Luck Soldiers. I repeat: attention people of Asturia, we are the Zaibach Intensified Luck Soldiers."_

"Intensified Luck Soldiers?" questioned Millerna.

"_Resistance is futile. We have but one demand. Van Fanel, former King of Fenalia and his guymelef, Escaflowne. If you wish to avoid further misfortune hand over Van Fanel at once."_

Shocked, Millerna said, "They're crazy!"

From the ground, Allen reached towards him, "Van, don't listen to them. Stay here and— "

"Be careful, Allen," urged Millerna, concerned that he might injure himself further.

"I understand now," Van said softly, "Without Hitomi here, it's me they want."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Van looked down at the crumpled tarot card in his fist. _The lovers._ "I thought I could change the world back to the way it was supposed to be. I thought that it would bring back Merle and Hitomi. I thought I could change time, that I could will it to change!"

"What are you saying?" asked Millerna

Van met her eyes and tried express his fear in words; "Millerna, this timeline is all wrong; you were supposed to be marrying Dryden. And Hitomi… she was supposed to be here! But no matter where I go in the timeline, things just keep getting worse. I've changed one destiny for another!"

This confession brought a gasp from Millerna's thoat, as she looked down at her beloved. Was it true that their marriage was not meant to be? Maybe that was why all this turmoil came about. The high priest had said something about ill omens… It pained her heart to think that she and Allen would not get the chance to be together. What destiny awaited her?

Without Serah, the journey through time to save Hitomi felt impossible. So far, every time he had entered the Historia Crux someone had gone missing or died. First it was Hitomi, then Merle, and now Dryden and Serah. Was he conjuring a worse destiny for his friends by travelling through time? Weighted down by responsibility, Van felt as if there was no way out for him. _If Zaibach wants me, they can have me. But that doesn't mean I'll come quietly. _

"Allen, lend me your guymelef," Van commanded. "I have need of Scherazade."

Struggling to sit up, Allen replied "But Van, where's Escaflowne?"

"Not here, where it matters!" he shouted. "If I can distract the Luck Soldiers and lead them out of the city, then I can retrieve Escaflowne and fight them off. No one else needs to suffer on my account."

"Take it," Allen allowed.

Immediately, Van was running to the abandoned guymelef behind them. Although he tried, the cockpit would not open for him. It looked as though it had been jammed shut when the tower fell. Thinking through his options, it seemed to him there was only one last thing he could try. Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and walked towards the awaiting Zaibach guymelefs.

In the center of the courtyard, Van stopped and spread his arms wide. "I'm the dragon you seek." He shouted, looking up at the floating fortress from which he expected his brother would be watching. "And my name is Van Fanel."

"Van, No!" shouted Millerna.

"If you want me, here I am!" he declared, drawing his sword. "Come and get me!" challenged Van, as wings burst forth from his back. With revenge in his heart for his friends that were now lost to him, Van launched himself from the ground in an attack against the floating fortress itself. A shaft of light shone down on his pure white wings as the fortress moved, ending the eclipse. Sunlight embraced him, and against the gloom of the courtyard, it was as though his features were etched in gold.

Quick as a cat, the silver-haired luck soldier reached out to snatch Van as he flew by, but suddenly she couldn't breathe. Unable to operate her guymelef, Naria exited the cockpit and jumped down to the ground, with her hands encircling her neck. Seeing her sister was in trouble, Eryia also abandoned the fight and joined her on the ground.

"No, sister," hissed Naria through her closed throat. "One of us has to save Lord Folken!"

Agreeing, Eryia was about to re-enter her guymelef when her breath caught in her chest. Her fingers scrambled at her neck as she fought to breathe and she fell back down to the ground next to Naria. The leopard-women aged twenty years in an instant, and seemed as though they were wilting in the sunlight. Unable to fight, they held each other as they looked on in fear as Van reached the floating fortress. "Folken, we love you."

With as slash of his sword, Van broke through the window of the bridge and glass rained down all around him. All personnel scattered at the sight of him. "Folken! Come out and face me like a man!" Van raged. He slashed at the computers on the flight deck, causing the circuitry to fail, but even the warning sirens that signaled a navigation malfunction did not produce his brother from the depths of the fortress. Van left the bridge and sprinted down the corridors, searching every room for Folken. In one such room, Van came upon a lone Zaibach soldier. The man cowered in terror at the sight of his prodigious wings.

"Where's Folken?" he demanded of the soldier with his sword against his jugular.

Trembling, the man pointed behind him to a door. Van nodded and approached it carefully.

A dark room lay beyond the door, with a large screen taking up the majority of the space. From out of the shadows came a figure dressed in black robes. "Van, here I am." Folken revealed his face, making himself a target for Van's righteous sword.

Taking a step into the room with his blade steadily aimed at his brother's heart he asked quietly, "How could you attack Fanelia?" After another step, he asked again, "How could you kill Merle?" When Folken did not respond, Van lunged forward shouting "It's all your fault!" His sword connected with the wall ahead of him, and where Folken had been; only shadows remained.

Behind him, a voice spoke, "Our choices shape who we are, Van." Pivoting, Van found his brother was now leaning against the giant screen, his head bowed. "Sometimes we get caught up in the moment and lose sight of what is more important. But still, the choices we make influence the future regardless of our intentions. Van," he said, looking into his eyes now, "what path will you chose?"

Folken motioned to a time gate that was to the left of the doorway, in another dark corner. Van hadn't noticed it until just now. The tarot card was still in his hand, having held it against the hilt of his sword for motivation to go through with his revenge. But now, Van hesitated. Was it still possible for him to fix the timeline without Serah's help? And what if his time travel caused more of his friends to die? What then? What was more important: protecting the world from his memories or the one he was living in now?

What he was facing was a world without love, where all those he cared about were dead; his brother at his own hands. Unable to imagine living in such a world, Van headed towards the gate. His fury subsided for now, replaced with a desperate hope that he could bring back what he had lost. "Good bye, brother."

"Until we meet again."

**To Be Continued…**

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**Author's Note:  
**

**Umm the next chapter is only a teaser... I felt like it should be published on its own. You can find it in Games - Final Fantasy XIII-2 section called "The Hands of Time". Not sure if it will make the final cut for the completed story, I guess it depends where I go from here.  
**

_Coming up- Van has to decide what he is fighting for, Serah learns that her coming to Gaea was prophesied. _**  
**


	8. Fear of Knowing

The Love of A Seeress

Chapter 8: Fear of Knowing

Though both time travelers found themselves floating in the time-space, they could not sense each other. But in a way, they knew that they weren't alone. Their common goal gave them hope and held them accountable. As long as they both kept working towards fixing the timeline they knew that eventually they'd find each other. What didn't occur to them was the chance that by changing the past, they would alter the future so that they had never met in the first place. One was pushed months into the future, while the other, years into the past.

The pendant now around her neck, Serah was emboldened. Her wishes may yet come true. Whatever may come, she had cheated death once again, and was grateful for that. As the end of the time-tunnel neared, sunlight tore into the void, blinding Serah momentarily. She covered her eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the brightness, and fell forward onto her knees while the world solidified around her. Blinking, she looked around excitedly; wondering where fate had brought her this time, and hoping desperately that it had taken her home. Her heart broke when she recognized the mystic moon in the sky. _Gaea? Still? _

"Wishes can sometimes look different to your head and your heart," a woman's voice said softly. Serah spied a woman with long dark hair across the water of a shallow pond. They were in forested place, shaded by foliage but touched the warmth of the sun. The woman was bathing a young boy who seemed he'd rather be doing _anything_ else.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Serah asked her. Absently, the woman massaged soap into the boy's hair. When she lifted her gaze to Serah, it was one of tenderness. She smiled, but did not respond. Instantly, Serah felt at ease, as if she were home.

The boy struggled out of his mother's hands and, wearing only a pair of shorts, came splashing over to Serah, getting her all wet. "Hi! Wanna play sea-monsters with me?" he asked brightly, as he dove back into the water. Serah smiled and watched as his dark hair bobbed just below the surface.

"Oh no," Serah cried theatrically, playing along. "A monster! Someone please save me!"

The boy gurgled as he approached her slowly, leaning from side to side as he made his way on his hands and knees. Across the pond, his mother smiled appreciatively. Then the 'monster' attacked and Serah was knocked backwards into the shallow water. The boy was leaning over her, making growling sounds and screwing up his face. Serah giggled and made her own monster face back at him.

"Sweetheart, you're getting yourself all muddy again," his mother admonished. To Serah she said, "Sorry, he doesn't know his own strength," as she scooped up the boy in her arms. He tried to wriggle free.

"I'm fine." Serah replied standing and straightening her dress. "No harm done."

"It looks like you could use a bath yourself," the woman noted, pointing to her hair. Serah reached up and found that a twig had ensnared itself in her ponytail. Without being asked, the woman made her way over to Serah and began the process of untangling her hair with her fingers. She set the child down so that she could use both hands.

"Oh, thanks," Serah said. Up close, it was impossible for Serah to disregard the two circular tattoos on the woman's forehead.

"Don't worry about it," the kind woman said. "My name is Varie. What's yours?"

"Serah," she replied, "Serah Farron."

The boy, left to his own devices, had begun digging a hole in the mud near the shore. Sure enough, his arms were black up to his elbows and there was even mud in his newly washed hair. "Stay close to me, dear," Varie warned as she continued to sort out the strawberry blonde's coif. "Tell me about yourself, Serah."

"Oh, where to start… I feel like I don't know where I am," Serah tried to face the woman as she spoke, but Varie stopped her with a hand on her chin.

"Don't move your head, please," she warned, "I don't want to rip out any of your beautiful hair."

Serah stilled herself, but didn't continue her train of thought. What aspect of her life could she explain to a strange woman from Gaea? Time travel, paradoxes, magic… none of these things were _normal_, yet they affected every facet of her life. The silence between them stretched on, while Serah watched the boy dig his hole.

"There's always love," Varie suggested. "You could start by telling me about your family."

With a heartfelt sigh, Serah whispered, "My family has been dead for a long time." In truth, she had only Lightning; her parents had died when she was still very young. Her sister had taken care of her until she met Snow. Since then, Lightning had been cold and distant, communicating only disapproval whenever they'd visit. It was only for that brief moment, the day Coccoon fell, that Serah felt that her family was whole again - when they were all reunited and Lightning offered her congratulations. But that moment had been torn away from her, dissolved in in time. She didn't know if she'd ever see Lightning again. All she had was a flash of warmth, gone in an instant. _Claire, you couldn't have picked a better name for yourself._

Varie tutted her, saying, "You family only dies when they are forgotten." Her hands were prying the branch from Serah's ponytail, but she was being so gentle, the process was likely to take a while. As much as she appreciated the help, the time traveler was becoming impatient. She reached her hands to grab the branch, but Varie casually swatted them away. "Don't worry, I'll have it out in no time."

Having become bored of digging, the boy splashed over to Serah and grabbed her hand. "Come build a sand castle with me!" He tried to pull her over to the shore, but Serah resisted for fear of losing her hair in the process. Varie chuckled.

"We can move over to the shore so you have something to do while I sort this out," she offered. "Since you don't want to talk to me." They sat on the sandy shore of the pond, well away from the mud the boy had been playing in.

Hours passed as she played with the young boy, though the twig had been removed from her hair in minutes. She sculpted turrets with parapets and built a bridge over the moat the boy was digging. As the castle was nearing perfection, the fickle boy decided he was a dragon and stomped the whole thing. Next, she helped the mother wash the child's hair, and only succeeded because she promised to let him wash _hers_. The enjoyment he expressed in little fits of laughter from dunking her head in the water more than made up for soap in her eyes.

It wasn't until the sun started to set that Serah was forced to face reality: she was in an unknown time on Gaea, without any money or food. This woman, Varie, had been so kind to her already, Serah almost felt guilty asking for another favor. Her stomach, however, decided for her as it rumbled audibly.

"Oh, you must be hungry," Varie remarked. "Please come and eat with my family. You said you didn't know where you are, you must be far from your home."

"You could say that," Serah replied. "And thank you for the offer. I can't offer you anything but my sincere gratitude."

"That will do." The two women began walking back to the city by the forest path. It was well worn and the trees grew far enough apart here that they were able to walk three abreast. The boy was between them, swinging their hands happily. Varie tilted her head as she evaluated Serah. She said, "Earlier, you asked how I knew what you were thinking." To which the younger woman nodded. "In a way I did, because I knew that look in your eyes. I know all about wishing for something that didn't come true.

"I must tell you, I am Draconian, a descendant of Atlantis. It was our kind that harnessed the power of wishes, which you find in the pendant you're wearing."

_Atlantis… wasn't that what Hitomi was talking about in my vision? _Surprised that Varie was aware of the pendant and its power, Serah became curious about how to use it.

Seeing no distrust in her companion, only interest, Varie confirmed that she was not from Gaea at all. It was refreshing, not to be judged by her roots for once. "The power of Atlantis is great, but only to those that truly understand it. You see, wishes can be granted, yes, but not if the wish is unclear. If there is uncertainty in your heart, the wish will be distorted." Varie explained, causing Serah to frown.

Thoughts racing, Serah recalled what had been going through her head when she had jumped through time. "But all I had been thinking about was getting home so I could see my fiancé, Snow. I don't think I've wished harder for anything my entire life."

"As much as you wanted to return to him, Serah, maybe you weren't ready. Maybe there was something you couldn't find at home that was keeping you away." Just then, the exhausted young boy began tugging on his mother's sleeve. She lifted him into her arms and cradled him there. "Go to sleep, Van, you've had a big day."

_Van?_ Serah didn't even think to conceal her surprise. Could it be that the child she'd been playing with all day had been the man she'd been helping to save the timeline? It was hard to believe that this innocent boy would grow up to be so independent and fearless. Even harder to believe that he was the man who had made her reconsider her marriage to Snow.

The last of the sun's rays were descending below the treeline now, and the chill of dusk was invading the forest. Goosebumps covered Serah's arms, but she couldn't say if it was from the temperature or the feeling of otherworldliness she was getting from Varie. It seemed like she could tell the Draconian woman anything, and she would listen patiently. Having no memories of her own mother, this woman exuded a warmth and understanding that Serah had missed her entire life. All of a sudden she was telling Varie everything that had happened since she had come to Gaea, unable to stop her mouth from forming the words. She vented her fears and frustrations passionately, culminating in her jump from the balcony at Millerna's wedding. Then, realizing how it all must have sounded to a stranger, Serah clammed up and said no more.

To her relief, Varie did just as she had imagined: she listened attentively through the whole story. "It sounds like your heart is being pulled in two directions: one that leads back to Cocoon and another that stays here in Gaea."

"It isn't just about love," Serah said finally. "I just don't know what I will live for once the timeline is corrected. How can I go back to being a school teacher after all I've been through?"

"But don't you see? Everything is about love." Varie reached out to touch one of the fireflies that had gathered in the dark, twinkling around them. "When you are with the one you love it won't matter what you do all day, as long as you can return to each other and share your experiences with them."

"What about Van? His true love, the girl from the mystic moon, is missing. Will his life lose its meaning without her?"

A knowing smiled spread across Varie's face. "When he was born, it was prophesized that Van would fall in love with a seeress. And that their love would bring an entire empire down."

"A seeress?" Serah gasped.

"Yes. Not a girl from the mystic moon. Not _Hitomi_, by name. Only a seeress. A woman that has visions."

"But I… does that mean…" trailing off, Serah shooed away one of the glowing insects.

"It means what it means. Van was never told this prophecy. It was Lord Goau's hope that his sons would not be seen as Draconians by the people of Fanelia, because they would one day take over the throne and he wanted the people to trust them."

The two women walked in silence in the darkened forest. Serah's thoughts were painful and confusing. _If Hitomi never came to Gaea, does that mean the Zaibach empire will prevail and destroy entire countries in pursuit of an ideal future?... Or am I supposed to take her place? _That thought frightened her the most. Sure, it was exciting to flirt with Van, and she could see herself coming to care for him as their adventure progressed, but she wasn't ready to give up on her life on Cocoon. There, she had been her own person, striving to bring about a better future for everyone. The thought of being merely a placeholder for Hitomi was an insult to the life she had lived.

"This prophecy, does it have to happen? What if it only happened in one version of time? Now that the timeline is disrupted, could Van's destiny be changed?" Serah asked Varie.

"Serah, did you ever stop to think that the timeline was destined to be changed, and that this version of time is just as real as the one that involved Hitomi?"

That suggestion struck Serah with all the force of a blow from a behemoth. 'Destined to be changed?' Could the future be something as simple as the sum of all possible pasts, and that change is the only constant in the thing she had been calling the timeline? It wouldn't be a line at all, then, but a web of alternate realities. Alternate, but not wrong. _And Zaibach, aren't they doing exactly what I was: looking for an ideal future?_ _Maybe there are no perfect futures... for either planet, _Serah thought to herself sadly. _Maybe I've been wasting my time. _

And there it was, the only real commodity we all have: time. It is so precious because we are granted so little. Having been caught up in her quests, she hadn't realized the unique gift that time travel was. She had unlimited time. She could live out 20 different lives where most people only get one. Here she was, on Gaea, able to live out another life with Van. An incredible life, as she had seen through her vision of Hitomi. But not her own…

Finally, Serah had a clear goal: to find her own life. She didn't know where this life would lead her; whether to stay here on Gaea or to return back to Cocoon, but she did know that it would have nothing to do with prophecies or fate. The only immediate objective she had was to find Hitomi. If she wasn't on Gaea, she must be back on the mystic moon. That is where all the problems began.

The pendant about her neck began to glow, faintly at first, but steadily building intensity. The fireflies, attracted to the light, danced around Serah, bringing the whole night alive with twinkling lights. Varie nodded her head, a hint of a smile on her lips.

"It seems you have found in yourself a wish unclouded by indecision."

Amidst all the lights, Serah's eyes went wide as circle appeared under her feet. In an instant a pillar of light engulfed her and shot straight up into the darkness of the sky above. A rushing wind wiped her hair about as Serah began to lift off the ground.

"Varie!" she cried, "Thank you so much!" She reached out to the only woman she would ever call her mother, needing to let her know how much her counsel had helped her in this hard time in her life.

Varie, with Van in her arms, waved to Serah as she floated just out of reach.

"Goodbye! I'll never forget you!" Serah shouted, though she was far from the ground now. Varie was now lost to sight in the midst of a large forest.

Serah took a deep breath as she climbed faster and faster into the atmosphere.

* * *

Van lept out of the timegate, and was thrown onto a battlefield. Escaflowne, the dragon guardian, was there, towering above him. Its cape was waving in the breeze, and was splattered crimson. All around him, Van could see infantry soldiers strewn about the ground, dead or dying. The scene looked all too familiar. _Freid, _Van thought. Instantly he knew when and where he was.

Jumping in to pilot Escaflowne, he headed north, towards the front lines of the battle. It was there that he found the Duke of Freid, piloting a gold guymelef. Also there was Allen Schezar in his guymelef, Scherazade. They were holding back the Zaibach forces for now, but more were marching their way and would arrive within the hour. Van remembered this battle well.

"Duke of Freid!" Van shouted. "Call back your men! Zaibach is too powerful an army!"

"Who are you to tell me how to command my troops?" The Duke answered as he swung his twin-bladed axe into the energist of a foe.

"Van Fanel, King of Fenalia, and knowledgeable of the art of war." When Van announced his name, Allen turned to face him.

"Van! You're alright! I thought you had been taken prisoner by Zaibach back in Palas!" Allen yelled cheerfully over the carnage.

Van, however, was not to be caught up in pleasantries. "Duke, you need to call your men back. You will not win this battle."

"What does it matter whether we win or lose?" asked the Duke. "We are here to represent the interests of Freid and to show that we are not going to fall quietly to hostile forces." Many hearty cheers erupted from the field of troops below still fighting for their country.

"What does it matter?" Van exclaimed. "You know you can't win, but still you send your men out to die on the battlefield for some ideal? These men have families, and lives of their own, but you sacrifice them without a second thought!" Van said incredulously.

A reprieve of fighting allowed the Duke to now face Van. "Do you think me so callous as that, sending men out to die on a whim?" The cockpit opened to reveal a tall man with a mustache, a goatee and brown hair flowing from beneath a crown. He stood and gestured to the bodies that littered the ground. "These men came to me, their Duke, for a way to save their families from suffering at the hands of Zaibach. Sure, I could have told them that a battle wouldn't solve anything and I could have returned to my throne with a clear conscience. But when the Zaibach Empire marched on Freid, they burned fields and towns and churches without care. These same men would have died anyway, but so would their wives and children," Freid pounded his fist into his armrest. "Instead, I chose to lead the strong men into battle, while the weak and young could escape the slaughter, so that one day they could return and rebuild Freid back to its former glory."

This was not the answer that Van had expected, and it forced him to pause and think. Since the day Freid had fallen, he'd thought the whole siege had been a waste of human life. He'd thought the Duke's ego had spurred the conflict, and that it could have been avoided by handing over the Seal Sword to Zaibach earlier. Now, understanding that there was an exodus behind the bloodshed, he saw the Duke in a new light. He hadn't exploited his people, but had saved them, bringing only soldiers to the campaign, though it left them woefully underrepresented against a powerful enemy.

"Then let me add my sword to yours, in order to keep Zaibach at bay a little longer," Van offered.

"Enough will die here to spur the makings of a legend." Freid answered solemnly. "How better to defeat Zaibach than by spreading this story across the lands of Gaea? Fenalia, do this thing for me and return to your home. Rebuild. Live. Zaibach cannot defeat what does not stay dead."

"But I am a skilled fighter, surely –" Van started.

"GO, Fenalia! This is my only command for you," the Duke yelled, cutting him off.

Van took one final survey of the scene before he urged Escaflowne into dragon form and flew off, in the direction of Fenalia. The place where it all began.

* * *

"I can't see it, I can't see the future! My visions are in disarray, sinking into chaos. Why won't you show me the future!" complained Emperor Dornkirk from his distant throne in Zaibach.

* * *

**To Be Continued...  
**


	9. Where It All Began

The Love of A Seeress

Chapter 9: Where it all began

Hitomi was sulking in the women's locker room at school, sitting on a bench and swinging her feet back and forth. Her head was down, and she was trying very hard not to look up. In front of her was a window with a view of the track team, training without her. She had complained of stomach flu, and Yukari had nearly wrung her neck for it.

"You'll never make it to Nationals with that kind of immune system!" she had complained, having Hitomi's best interest in mind.

It wasn't really that her stomach was hurting her, though it was. The pain was emotional in origin, not viral. The truth was she just didn't want to see Amano today. Whenever she thought about him, she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Last night, she had done a tarot reading about herself and Amano. She liked him so much, but now she knew that he didn't feel the same. Worse than that, she had found out that he had feelings for her best friend, Yukari.

Gathering her things, Hitomi left the locker room, brooding. Usually she would walk home with Yukari after practice, but her friend wasn't finished and she needed to be alone with her thoughts. Her life seemed so pointless now. Track had lost its appeal, knowing that Yukari and Amano would always be there, together, rubbing their perfect romance in her face. What could she do but quit the team? Similarly, she could no longer enjoy performing tarot card readings for other girls in the school, because they all wanted to hear about their true love. She thought she had found hers, and now she knew she had been fooling herself. True love was just a bad lie, no matter how you looked at it. _No one could love everything about a person_, she thought bitterly.

Life in general looked bleak as Hitomi dragged her feet back to her neighborhood. Everything was the same as it was the day before, and would be tomorrow. Her existence made not the slightest difference. She sighed.

It was nearly suppertime when Hitomi passed the park near her house. Her eyes looked over the empty soccer field and the meandering path that led through the trees, one she jogged regularly, but she didn't really _see_ anything. It was as if everything she did was automatic, and although her head and heart felt like exploding, she was able to walk on like she always did. For the hundredth time she wondered if she had misread the cards, that the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

Above her, the sky darkened ominously, and she expected that with her luck she could expect a downpour only minutes away from the sanctuary of home. But, just then, a bright light split the sky apart and beamed down into the park beside her, abruptly bringing Hitomi out of her thoughts. Her wide eyes filled with blue light as she took in the celestial event, startled and uncomprehending. As quick as it had appeared, the light was gone, and the sky was clear once again. Curious (and aware that returning home early would only result in a scolding from her mother) she decided to investigate the park, for what, she could not explain, not even to herself. She cautiously entered the park, looking around for anyone else who had seen the light, but the area was eerily deserted. So she wandered into the shrubs where the light had vanished.

Serah landed lightly on her feet in the midst of the pillar of light. The brightness dissipated and she found herself in a grassy place with trees nearby. Immediately, she searched the sky for the blue orb that was the mystic moon, but found only the sun and a few fluffy clouds. _I must be on the mystic moon then, _Serah thought. It was remarkable to her how similar the worlds were, from Gaea to Cocoon to the Mystic Moon, all having a blue sky, green trees and grass… it was as if they were all related somehow. She was tempted to explore this world out of her own curiosity but she knew that she had to find Hitomi, though she had no idea where to start. Instinctively, her hand went to the pendant around her neck. She concentrated on the image of the girl she had never met but in dreams: short brown hair, green eyes, long legs…

Scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary, Hitomi tried to make as little noise as possible as she walked among the trees. The shrubs gave way to an empty field further ahead. Movement caught her eye, and Hitomi hid behind a tree trunk when she spied a young woman in the middle of the clearing. Knowing she was out of sight, Hitomi took this chance to look her over. _What strange clothes, _thought Hitomi. The designs on her dress looked at the same time tribal and European. The combination of thigh high leggings and gloves with a strapless dress was a little excessive for a walk in the park. It looked like a costume from some video game. The pink hair completed the look, and gave her a rebellious but adorable charm. If she had had lots of makeup on, or had been wearing black instead of white and pink, she would have been easier to type, in Hitomi's mind. But the fact was that while wearing the costume of a porn star, with unnatural hair color, she still managed to look wholesome. Maybe it was her big blue eyes?

The next thing Hitomi knew, her pendant around her neck was burning up, painfully searing the flesh of her chest. She shrieked. Immediately to relieve the pain, Hitomi snapped the chain and threw the necklace away from her into the clearing.

Serah's concentration was disturbed when the pendant in her hand began to heat up. It became white hot and, not knowing why or how to stop it; she lifted it over her head and threw it away from her. At the same time, she heard a woman's cry not too far away, in the trees directly in front of her.

The glowing pendant was smoldering the grass where it laid between the two young women. Both were now moving towards it, unaware that they had possessed the same pendant within the same time. The paradox had fixed itself, melding the two necklaces into one.

As they approached each other and the necklace, Serah's face broke into a huge grin. "Hitomi! Is it really you?" she asked excitedly. She broke into a run towards the Earthling who in turn became frightened and started backing away.

With both arms out in front of her in a protective gesture, Hitomi replied "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

Serah bent down to pick up the pendant, causing Hitomi to move forward again "Hey, don't touch that, it's mine!" she shouted indignantly.

Startled, Serah replied "Of course it's yours." And, seeing that Hitomi didn't recognize her at all, she held the pendant out to her as she bowed. "My name is Serah Farron."

Accepting the necklace gingerly, ensuring first that the pendant was no longer hot; Hitomi fastened it around her neck. Then she bowed in turn, responding, "I'm Hitomi Kanzaki. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

There was an awkward silence, as the two women straightened up. Hitomi broke the silence. "Did you notice a strange light over here?" she asked hesitantly, looking around. It was a futile gesture, the light had been gone for minutes now, and the only difference in the park was standing right in front of her.

Staring into Hitomi's eyes, Serah said "That is a lovely pendant. You must take good care of it."

"Huh? Yeah, I guess. It was my grandmother's." Hitomi answered, eyeing Serah with unease.

It suddenly dawned on Serah that, apart from finding Hitomi, she had no plan on how to get her to Gaea. She had been so short-sighted that she hadn't even thought of what to say. With her quarry now looking at her as if she were crazy, she threw caution to the wind and played the part. "Hitomi, I know this is going to sound crazy… but why are you _here_?"

Taken aback, Hitomi explained: "I was investigating that strange light I just mentioned."

"But don't you want to be… somewhere else?"

"What do you mean?" answered Hitomi, lost.

Not wanting to frighten Hitomi, Serah turned her gaze to the sky and asked as nonchalant as possible "Has something in your life changed recently?"

"What? … Well yeah, maybe," Hitomi mumbled. "I quit the track team, so I guess I should be there." When Serah did not respond, Hitomi sat down on the grass and hugged her gym bag to her chest. "I mean, is it that obvious?"

Serah also sat down, but continued her silence.

Hitomi looked over at the stranger beside her, trying to discern her intentions. "I feel … like I don't belong here anymore."

"I know the feeling." Serah said hugging her knees. A breeze blew by the women, rustling the leaves on the trees. It had a calming effect on Hitomi, and helped her think clearly, which had been difficult for her lately.

"Do you live around here? I don't recognize you," Hitomi asked, still trying to place Serah.

"That pillar of light…" Serah began, ready to explain everything.

"Yes?" Hitomi said excitedly.

"…" Serah lost her nerve. _Would she believe me? How can I make her understand? _"Oh, nevermind."

"No, please, what were you going to say?"Hitomi reached out to Serah, but as she placed her hand on her shoulder, she was brought into a vision with such intensity that she screamed. Confused images of large mechanical warriors fighting, dragons, half-humans, cities crumbling and large round portals bombarded her all tied to a feeling of longing and a sense of purpose.

* * *

Van took his time returning to Fenalia. He had many miles to cover, but he took in the scenery as it changed from mountains to rolling hills to plains. The landscape seemed to flow over the surface of Gaea, fluid in time. Changing slowly along centuries. Van wasn't quite sure how he knew this; it was as if his eyes had been opened at some point during his adventure through time. Now he could appreciate the longevity of a mountaintop and as well as the brevity of a blade of grass. He enjoyed the sun on his skin and the air in his lungs, though he didn't once think of sleep or hunger. The journey from Freid to Fenalia should have taken him weeks to complete on his own, however, it seemed like only a day had passed when the familiar sight appeared on the horizon.

With his newfound sense of time, he realized that humans were very temporary creatures. It pained Van to think it, but he couldn't deny that the human body was frail. But memories, they live on long after someone dies. All humans (even demi-humans) can realistically aspire to do is leave a legend behind. His thoughts raced through the friends he had lost thus far: _Merle, Hitomi, Serah, I'll never forget you as long as I live._ It was all he could offer them, but it felt so inadequate. Of course, he was still hoping to fix the timeline and bring them all back, but it seemed less likely to happen as he journeyed on.

He puzzled over Hitomi's disappearance. Initially he wondered if _he_ had been the cause, perhaps by giving up on his rite of dragonslaying before meeting her. There was no way to know until he found a time gate that went back to that day. But if he hadn't fought the dragon, then Escaflowne wouldn't be operational. Another theory debunked. _But why isn't she here?_ He thought desperately. Certainly he would drive himself crazy, obsessing like this.

And what of Serah's smile as she entered the time gate? Had she figured something out? Hoping she was safe, Van calmed his thoughts. If anything, Serah was still out there, in another time, striving to fix the timeline. All he could do was to honor their commitment and do the same.

The capitol city of Fenalia stretched out before him, unharmed by the hand of war. There were Zaibach banners waving from the gates and the castle, signifying that his country was still being occupied by the enemy. Van landed on a ridge outside the gate, high enough to give him a view of the entire city. Despite the look of a foreign invasion, there were relatively few soldiers patrolling the gates and far less in the city itself. A plan began to form in Van's head. _If I attack the soldiers from behind the city, from the cliffs, they won't know what hit them…_

* * *

Hitomi awoke in her own bed with her mother looking down at her, worry drawing her features thin. She remembered thinking _she looks so old_ before falling out of consciousness again, though this time she was greeted with a peaceful dream.

The next morning, as Hitomi was getting dressed, she thought back on the strange dreams she'd had. First, meeting a strange girl in the park, then a very frightening array of battles and time travel and finally an image that still stuck with her: a man, his face in shadow, with long white wings reaching out to her… What could it all mean? She didn't even remember coming home from school yesterday. With that one thought, her stomach clenched. _Oh right, Amano_. She had probably been too busy thinking about him to notice the rest of the evening.

Descending the stairs from her room to the kitchen, with the intention of fixing herself some breakfast, Hitomi saw something that froze her blood in her veins. At the table her mom and the strange girl from her dream were having a cup of tea. _What the hell? _Hearing her steps, they looked over and smiled.

"There you are, Hitomi. Are you feeling better?" Her mother asked. Hitomi nodded slowly. "It was so fortunate that Serah was there to carry you home after you fainted at practice yesterday. You should thank her."

"Uh, thanks Serah." Hitomi said, moving into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of orange juice.

"I don't know why you didn't tell me about the foreign exchange that your track team was hosting," her mother continued on, acting completely normal. "You could have used this opportunity to see the world!"

Hitomi glanced at Serah, who discretely nodded as if to say 'just play along'. "I wasn't really interested…" Hitomi started. Thankfully the dryer made its horrible buzzer noise that signals the end of a cycle, and her mother excused herself in order to attend to the laundry.

As soon as her mother was out of earshot, Hitomi rounded on Serah. "What the hell happened yesterday?"

Serah sighed and took a sip of tea. Hitomi nerves were so frayed at this point that she couldn't handle the calm demeanor of this strange girl. "Out with it!" she snapped.

"We met in the park after I arrived here… and then, when you touched my shoulder, you screamed and passed out. I checked your gym bag for your address and brought you home. You've been asleep ever since."

"And you happen to be an exchange student at my school?"

Serah blushed. "That was just a cover story."

"So where are you from?"

Just then her mother returned. The girls exchanged a look that said they'd finish their conversation later, on the way to school. Her mother continued to praise the virtues of travel and how seeing the world would open Hitomi's eyes…. And so on. Neither of the girls was really listening.

When they passed the park where they had met the day before, Serah decided it was time to make things right. Her sleepless night on the Kanzaki couch had afforded her the time to come up with a plan. Now all she had to do was convince Hitomi.

"You feel like your life doesn't matter, and that if you died, the world wouldn't change, right?" Serah began, to the surprise of her companion. Hitomi nodded sadly. "Well I'm here to tell you that you're wrong. Throughout your life you will affect a lot of people, and some will come to depend on you, others will come to love you. Without you the world will be unbalanced because you provide something that no one else can."

Hitomi scoffed. "And what is that?"

Serah sighed. _Was I ever this difficult, Lightning? _"It is up to you to figure that out. I'm only here to motivate you. Don't give up because when you put your mind to it, great things will happen."

"The power of wishes…" Hitomi whispered. "That's what my grandma used to tell me. If you wish for something it will always come true because you will be working towards your goal until you achieve it."

"Exactly," Serah replied happily.

Silence took over for a moment as the girls walked past some shops. It was early and nothing was open just yet. The sun was unobstructed by clouds and the air was already warm and perfumed with the scent of flowers. It was going to be a beautiful day. _If only Hitomi could see that._

"But what do I do now? Amano doesn't like me. I can't go through with it." Hitomi whined. Deep down she knew that there were more important things in life than having a boyfriend, but lately she just had trouble seeing what they were. Maybe her mom was right; she needed to get out of this town.

"Go through with what?"

"I had told Yukari, my best friend, that I was going to ask Amano for my first kiss yesterday. But then I did a tarot card reading about our relationship, and I discovered he didn't like me."

_Of course!_ Serah thought. _That must have been the moment time was tampered with!_ Instead of pursuing her first kiss, Hitomi was off sulking in the park, and therefore was unable to meet Van. So the way to fix the paradox would be to… get her to ask Amano for a kiss? This was going to be a tough sell.

"Sometimes you have to do something that scares you in order to grow." Serah suggested enigmatically. "And sometimes you have to go backwards before you can move ahead."

"What are you saying?" Hitomi demanded.

"All I'm saying is that you should keep an open mind. Maybe Amano can offer you something that no one else can, and all you have to do is give him the opportunity."

"Serah, I'm not that kind of girl…" Hitomi gave the other woman a funny look.

"Well, ok. But tonight, go through with your plan." And before she could object, Serah pleaded, "Trust me. Who knows, maybe your reading was wrong."

As hard as it was for Hitomi to trust a stranger, there was nothing about Serah that warranted distrust. She was mysterious, for sure, first knowing her name before she could tell her, then her strange questions about her life, and finally that vision... No there was definitely something Serah wasn't telling her.

"Serah, to trust you I need to know: where are you from?" Hitomi asked her companion for the third time.

Serah hesitated, which bothered Hitomi. _How hard can it be to explain? _

**To be Continued…**


	10. Paradox Resolved

The Love of A Seeress

Chapter 10: Paradox Resolved

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**Author's Note: In this chapter there are two scenes which go on simultaneously. I found it very hard to keep track of what was happening to whom so I decided to put one scene in**_** italics**_** and the other in regular font. Before the asterisk (*), italics indicate thoughts as they have throughout the story. After the asterisk, they indicate things happening to Hitomi and her friends. Clear? Ok.**

**Also, this is the last chapter of this fic! OMG I can't believe it's over :(  
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**Please leave a comment if you've read the whole thing, I would like to know what you thought of it!**

**Thanks for reading XD  
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Serah wasn't sure why it was so hard to tell Hitomi the truth. Telling Van had actually been easy. But every time she resolved to explain herself to this girl from the Mystic Moon, something inside her warned against it. She knew that the timeline was disrupted already, and maybe she was worried that Hitomi meeting an alien on the day she was supposed to go to Gaea might screw things up a little. Finally she decided on a white lie that might just work.

"Hitomi, I didn't want to tell you where I'm from because… Well because I'm from the future. I travel through time, making sure everything happens the way it is supposed to. Right now, I'm here to set you on the right path once again."

"So you're like… the time police?" Hitomi said in disbelief.

Serah laughed at the concept. "I guess so."

"Doesn't your telling me you're from the future violate some kind of code or something?" Hitomi questioned semi-seriously.

Serah just shook her head. They had arrived at Hitomi's school. Students were filing in, talking and laughing. A group of girls nearby erupted in a fit of giggles over a hilarious text message. It reminded Serah of her class back on New Bodhum, though her students were quite a bit younger. _Or were they?_ In 500 AF they'd be long dead. That was the trouble with time travel; you lose appreciation for how far you've gone from your home.

"Are you ok?" Hitomi asked, seeing Serah's expression darken.

"Fine," she lied. "But I would like to see what your school system is like," she said. "Do you think I could pass as a foreign exchange student?"

Hitomi raised one eyebrow in surprise. "You actually_ want_ to go to school?" When Serah nodded, Hitomi shrugged. "Ok, let's get going."

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Van waited until full dark before attacking his home. Stealth, he decided, was the most important element in this assault, so he hid Escaflowne outside the walls of the city. He would make his move on foot. All he needed was his sword.

The city was built in a valley surrounded by cliffs on three sides. At the mouth of the valley, a great wall protected the city with a gate that was guarded day and night. The only way to catch Fenalia by surprise was to be either invisible (as Zaibach had done) or to attack by air. The cliffs were treacherously steep and prone to avalanche. Thankfully, Van didn't plan on climbing down. From far away, Van knew that his wings made him look like a bird, so he could safely fly in without too much alarm. From there, he would have to determine where the soldiers were and defeat them one by one. As long as he was quick and quiet, they wouldn't know he was in the city until he was in the castle. He assumed that the Fenalian soldiers had been imprisoned so that they wouldn't mutiny against the Zaibach forces, so his first aim would be to free the prisoners. His plan firmly in place, Van took a deep breath and jumped from the cliff.

_Van!_ As he plummeted to the ground, Van's mind flashed on a woman's face.

_Hey Van! _ Her short brown hair, her large green eyes, and the way she would puff out her cheeks when she was offended… _Hitomi!_ It was all coming back! Does this mean that the timeline was fixed?

Ten feet off the ground, he let out his wings. The shadows of the cliffs above hid his landing from sight, and he touched down lightly enough that there was nothing to hear. Sneaking around a corner he spotted a Zaibach soldier. The man was dozing off at his post, his head bouncing up every few minutes as he tried to stay awake. Van charged at him with speed and force, not giving the soldier any time to retaliate, nor himself any time to change his mind. Van steeled his resolve to kill the man. However, as he was swinging his sword down at the soldier's neck, again Hitomi's face flashed in his mind, and at the last second he shifted his grip, slashing the air instead. To his surprise, the air split in two, as if it had been made of fabric. The Zaibach soldier was yelling in surprise "Attack! We are under attack!" as he ran away from him towards the castle.

A light coming from within the tear had caught Van's attention, and he momentarily forgot that he was supposed to be attacking the castle. Experimentally he reached his hand into the space but nothing happened. His arm didn't disappear, it was neither hot nor cold inside. It was just… empty space. More soldiers were on their way now, he could tell by the noise. They'd sounded the alarm. From within the city, there was no way out except through the gates or by flying again. He figured they'd have archers as well as swordsmen, so he figured he'd be captured for sure now_. So much for my plan_.

Without options, Van sheathed his sword and stuck his entire head into the tear. Inside it looked a little like the clock-tunnel he'd observed while time travelling. Had he just cut through the fabric of time? Looking back to the current situation, he caught sight of the first wave of soldiers; he didn't have any more time to think. He jumped into the time rift with both feet and prayed that he wouldn't be killed.

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_It was getting late, but Hitomi knew that Amano would show up. It was his last day before leaving for England, and he had promised to say good-bye. Serah had disappeared somewhere behind the school, saying that she'd be there if something went wrong but would otherwise stay out of the way. _

In her hiding spot on the roof of the school, Serah was watching the sun set on the water of the bay. She had climbed up the emergency fire escape searching for the best view of the race track. The Mystic Moon reminded her of Cocoon, except there were no FalC'ie. This was the world that Hope was trying to create back home, based on human technology, for humans to live together. Free. It was amazing.

Once Hitomi leaves for Gaea, there would be no reason for her to be on Earth. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to get back to her world… Hitomi had the pendant, and with the paradox resolved, there would be no time gates appearing to take her home. It was frustrating to know that she might, again, be stranded. Her objective was to find her own life though, regardless of where it lead her, but now that she faced it, she was afraid.

So she waited, to see if her plan to fix the timeline worked. A breeze was blowing causing Serah to sigh in relief; it had been a hot day and the evening promised to be a lot cooler. Leaning back on her hands, she stretched her feet out in front of her and rolled her neck, trying to relax. A feather blew past her and out above the track where Hitomi was down below. When a second feather caressed her cheek, she glanced behind her. There, framed by the oncoming night, was Van, wings spread and eyes all for her.

Serah jumped to her feet. "Van! How did you get here?" she asked in surprise.

Calmly, Van walked over to her. "I'm not sure. It was like I was called here."

"But if you're here… I thought I had fixed things." Serah fretted. If he was here, that meant that something had gone wrong…

"And you did. Serah, my memories of Hitomi are returning. I think when Hitomi returns to Gaea in this time, things will be as they were." He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm glad you're ok. The last time I saw you, you were falling…" Van trailed off, not wanting to dwell on the feeling of abandonment he had been left with since she had disappeared. It felt as though a lifetime had passed since he had any human contact and he didn't want to let her go. After a moment he asked, "So what will happen to me when the paradox is fixed?"

"I guess you'll be returned to your proper time, four years in the future," considered Serah as she relaxed in his embrace.

"And you?" he asked softly.

Serah sighed against his bare chest. "Well I didn't belong there in the first place. I guess it will be like I was never there at all. When you change the past, the future is also changed."

"But I don't want to forget you." Van said resolutely.

Looking up into his face, it hurt Serah to respond, "That's the way time travel works."

Hugging her tighter Van whispered "The things I've learned, the changes I've seen, they all just disappear...?" and more quietly, hardly audible over the soft breeze, he added "Where do they go?"

"I don't know…"

_Down below, Amano had arrived. _

"_Amano! Wait up!" Hitomi panted as she doubled over with her hands on her knees. When the dark-haired man turned around, she straightened up. "Amano I have a favor to ask you." Hitomi held out the pendant in front of her as she continued, "Don't think less of me but if I can run the 100 meters in the time it takes to swing the pendant 13 times I would like you to do something special for me…" she blushed._

_Amano looked her over curiously, "Oh?"_

_Hesitantly, she bowed to him as she finished, "Give me my very first kiss?" _

_The man reached for the pendant, which caused her to gasp. "I'd be honored to," he said with a smile. _

"_Thank you so much Amano!" Hitomi said with watery eyes and cheeks aflame. _

"I had never known this Amano personally, but she talked about him frequently when she first came to Gaea," Van reminisced. It felt good to remember the past with clarity.

"He looks and sounds a lot like Allen," observed Serah from her vantage point.

"That must be why she was drawn to him, at first," Van considered.

They were both sitting now, their legs hanging off the edge of the building. Van had one arm wrapped around Serah's shoulders after she had complained of the cold night air. The touch of his bare skin against hers was intoxicating. It was getting harder for Serah to ignore Van's closeness, though she was trying. Her mind was trying to sort out the timeline, and her part in it.

"Van, I – I think that maybe I was the cause of the distortion of the timeline," Serah lamented.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, I'm the only thing that doesn't fit. We followed the clues, first it was your memories of Hitomi that were fading, and then we found that the changes went all the way back to when Zaibach attacked Fenalia. Hitomi had never come to Gaea, and it was because her fortune had changed. I've traced the distortions back to this day and there seems to be no other cause. No person was tampering with the timeline."

"What about Folken and Emperor Dornkirk?" Van reasoned. "They were trying to bring about an ideal future… that's probably why they sent you to me." He smiled coyly.

Serah frowned. "Don't be cute, I'm serious. I think that I changed the future by appearing in Gaea, and that caused the past to change as well."

It was obvious to Van that Serah had been thinking this way for a while now. She meant to blame the whole thing on herself, even though she had no control over her coming to Gaea in the first place. It bothered Van, but he saw no argument that would change her mind, so he let it go for now.

"What if you had come to Gaea, instead of Hitomi," Van mused as he leaned his back against the railing. "For one thing, you wouldn't be as helpless, with your magical abilities…"

His words reminded Serah of what Varie had said about the prophecy…"the love of a seeress".

"And for another thing," Van was saying, "you understand the need to fight. One thing I could never get over was Hitomi's fear of conflict."

"She doesn't fear conflict, Van, haven't you been paying attention?" Serah responded huffily. "She hated needless suffering. She feared for your safety every time you went into a battle. Because she loves you. She hated your attitude towards war, and your disregard for the value of human life while fighting."

Van scoffed. "I've grown a lot since the boy you'll see here tonight, killing for the first time. I know. But it becomes you or them out there on a battlefield."

"Well, I don't know a thing about war. I've fought creatures, but I've also fought alongside those same creatures. I never wanted to kill anyone. Not even Caius, after everything he put me through."

Van sighed. "Forget about it. I just thought that we could have fought Zaibach together. We made a good team."

As much as he was wrong, he was still right about that. Serah smiled sadly.

_The sun had set and stars filled the sky. Hitomi returned to the track dressed in her shorts and a t-shirt. The starting blocks were set for her. _

"_Kanzaki, are you ready to go?" asked Amano from the finish line. _

_Hitomi stepped up to the blocks. "Yes, any time you are Amano." Then the field lights flooded the track with artificial light. _

"_Hitomi!" Yukari waved from the bleachers._

_Touched that her friend was there to support her, she smiled back. "Yukari" she said happily. It was time to show herself that this wasn't a waste of time. Amano did like her, and she would prove that she could make her wishes come true. _

"_Ready?" Amano said, with the pendant in his fist. _

"_You bet I am," Hitomi said under her breath. _

"_Go!" shouted Amano as he released the pendant. Hitomi exploded from the blocks with incredible speed. _

From above, Serah and Van were counting the seconds: One… Two…

"You know that we only have minutes left together," Serah remarked absently, trying to hide her distress.

"We have all the time in the world. If I could just tear time again-" said the King of Fenalia as he reached for his sword. Serah gently stopped him and held his hand in her own.

"It would be borrowed time. We'd have to give it back."

"_Seven seconds, eight seconds…" Amano counted watching Hitomi progress down the track. Her strong legs propelled her forward with every stride in perfect form. She had improved so much from junior high, she was sure to make Nationals this year. _

_Suddenly a light appeared in the middle of the track ahead of Hitomi. The beam of light grew and within it a young man with dark hair appeared and landed directly in front of the running girl. _

"There you are," Serah said to Van. "You look surprised."

"I had no intention of coming to Earth. I was hunting a dragon," Van remembered. "Just like when you came to Gaea, it must have been pretty startling for you too."

_Hitomi, unsure if this man was real or one of her visions again, collided with young Van at full speed. Startled, Van raised his arm to protect himself and knocked her to the ground._

"Well at least I didn't push you over," Serah joked.

Mischievously, Van pushed her lightly, and Serah pretended to lose her balance. Scared that she was really falling from the roof, suddenly Van was just there to catch her, holding her tightly, his breathing much faster than it was a moment ago.

"_Just who are you?" young Van demanded Hitomi. He looked around and, not recognizing his surroundings, asked "Where am I?" _

"I'm ok… Van…" Serah said, turning her face to look into his amber eyes, bringing their faces closer together. His lips were inviting, so close, and so warm. His heart was still beating like hammer in his chest, but she could no longer say for certain it was because of fear. "Van?" she made it a question.

Composing himself, Van moved away, releasing Serah from his grasp. It was a cruel joke, and he had fallen head over heels for it. He moved away from her, within touching distance but avoiding contact.

Serah knew she'd ruined the moment, but she wanted it back. Why does life have to be so complicated?

They both looked down on the scene below.

"_Don't take that tone with me!" young Van was shouting at Amano. _

"I was such a bastard back then," Van noted as he looked over at Serah.

Without warning, he changed his tact. It was bothering him and he needed to bring it up. "What if Emperor Dornkirk did manage to tamper with fate. What if it was he who managed to bring you to Gaea? Shouldn't that have any value?"

"It's wrong, Van, it wasn't supposed to happen," Serah said.

"It isn't wrong. Just different. Don't tell me that you've traveled through time for this long and haven't figured that out."

Alternate realities. Different but not wrong. Serah had come to understand this when she had talked with Varie, but still it didn't quite add up with her previous experience. "Yes, but it still seems like there is a main flow of time," Serah reasoned. "Because distortions do occur, and when the paradox is fixed things revert back to normal. It seems like those alternate realities cease to exist."

"Or maybe you just haven't found them yet," suggested Van.

"_Get moving! Unless you want to get eaten by a dragon!" yelled young Van from down below._

_Ahead blue lightning was springing from the ground. At first it was just like static electricity but soon multiple prongs were dancing upwards from the track. _

"_No, not again." Amano said, worried that more people from another world would appear. Or worse, that dragon the young man was talking about. _

"_Hitomi… What's going to happen?" Yukari asked her friend. Hitomi was holding her mouth as if she was about to throw up. Surprised, she inquired "You ok?"_

"_I don't know but I feel really sick." Hitomi responded. _

"_Here goes," The young Van whispered. Within the electrical field a forest scene appeared in front of them on the track. Two pinpoints of light could be seen, and they blinked. Out of the trees stepped the beast, half as tall as the school itself and covered with scales. A dragon._

"When I find where all the alternate realities go, I'll come visit you," Serah was saying to Van when the dragon appeared. Their tender moment was shattered by the screams of the students below. In a second, Serah was on her feet, moving to help Hitomi and her friends in any way she could. Van stopped her, grabbing her hand. He was still and unmoved by the horrible cries of the beast.

"They'll be fine," was all he said as he sat back down, pulling Serah down as well. Seeing as Van had witnessed this moment of history once before, first-hand, Serah trusted that they'd all be ok.

_The dragon's chest started to glow, signifying that a flame attack was eminent. The young Van put up his arm shield to protect him from the fire. Then he pulled out a crossbow and shot the dragon in the eye. A direct hit. The dragon writhed and fell to the ground in a cloud of dust. "Gotcha!" said young Van triumphantly, ready to strike with his sword. Suddenly, out of the dust came the dragon's barbed tail. Young Van was also knocked to the ground and dropped his sword in the process. _

_The onlookers gasped as their hero fell. Van rose to his hands and knees and coughed up blood. The dragon was still screaming and writhing. With its good eye, it spotted Hitomi and the others. _

"_You won't finish me off that easily. I'm stronger than you think," Van said as he struggled to his feet and stumbled forward for his sword. To the others he yelled "If you want to live, get out of here, now!"_

"_You heard what he said. Let's move!" Hitomi told her friends. "C'mon!" They saw the wisdom in getting as far away from the dragon as possible, and ran away, towards a shrine. _

_His sword in hand again, young Van lunged at the dragon. His attack deflected harmlessly off the dragon's scaly back. The dragon hissed at Van, but followed the others instead in its lumbering side-to-side run. _

"_Hey… Wait!" Van called as he attached himself to the dragon's scales. "Gotcha. You're not getting away that easily." _

Seeing that the commotion had subsided and everyone below had moved on, Serah stood up. "I guess this is good-bye."

"What will you do?" asked Van. "Stay here on the Mystic Moon?"

Serah smiled bravely. There was no way for her to return home, and she was at her wit's end.

"Serah, what are you going to do?" Van demanded worriedly.

"Van, there's nothing left for me here. Without any way to get home, there's no future for me."

"Don't talk like that. Don't just give up. You think that dying is a valid option?" yelled Van, furiously. This wasn't like Serah to be so fragile. She was supposed to be the strong one, fighting for what is right, all the way to the bitter end.

"Last time I thought I died I ended up in Gaea," replied Serah with a heat of her own. "Then, again, at Millerna's wedding when I jumped from the balcony, Hitomi's pendant appeared and a time gate and took me back in time. Don't think that my life is so easily ended."

"But this time you have none of those things," Van reasoned. "I don't think it's a good idea. Don't just fall down and die. You're worth so much more than that. Don't do this," he pleaded to her. Serah walked away from Van, over to the very edge of the rooftop.

"You don't understand. I'm done. I've completed all of my quests. My options are to stay here away from everyone I know, on a different planet with different customs for the rest of my life or to take a chance." Looking down from the edge of the roof, Serah knew she was going to do it. She clenched her fists. "If I don't jump today, I'll only jump tomorrow or the next day. And if I don't… I'll always wonder if it would have brought me home."

_Watching Van fight the dragon, Hitomi was overcome by a vision that young Van will be speared by the barbed tail of the dragon. In fear she gasped. "No he's… He's going to die!"_

"_Hitomi…?" Amano said as Hitomi ran back down the stairs towards young Van and the dragon. "Hitomi!"_

_The dragon rushed Van, who dodged to the side. The tail reared up, ready to strike, as Hitomi arrived on the scene and shouted to Van "Watch out from above!" _

_Van glanced her way and then up and saw the attack coming. Hitomi screamed and covered her eyes. Barely dodging the attack, Van's chest plate is sliced through by the dragon's tail. Van scrambled over the tail using it like a bridge and attacked from behind. While the beast reared in pain, Van ran around the dragon and sliced its chest open, spilling forth its blue blood. The dragon fell on its side and Van was drenched from head to foot in blood. Panting, he retrieved the energist. The dragon disintegrated along with its blood leaving no trace of the battle on Earth. _

"_Excuse me? A-are you ok?" Hitomi asked Van. _

_The young lord glances her way and blurts, "Look. I don't need any woman to worry about me. I guess you want a reward then? Well fine. Come to my castle. Just don't get cocky. I apologize for involving you and your friends in my dragon slaying. Oh, and by the way, you didn't help me slay the dragon."_

_Hitomi slaps the younger version of Van Fanel. "What is your problem? Are you always so pig-headed? I didn't help you for a reward… I just… Well, I thought you were going to die and I was scared, really scared. The least you could do is say thank you! You know I shouldn't have even saved you. I should have let that stupid dragon eat you." With that, the violence, the worry and the adrenaline all caught up to her hurt feelings and Hitomi began to cry._

On the rooftop, Van spoke to Serah with resignation in his voice. "Look, I won't stop worrying about you. I'll always wonder if there was something more I could do. You want to jump? Well fine. But I'm coming with you. I'm sorry that I involved you in this paradox. I wish I could repay you somehow for everything you've done! Damn it, Serah. It isn't fair!"

Serah caressed his cheek. "Van, I never helped you for a reward… it just felt right. Soon you'll be back where you belong. And I- well, you won't have to worry about me because you'll never have met me. You can't save me now. This is my choice and I've accepted it."

_The girl's reaction left the young Van nonplussed. The stone in his hand began to glow. "The energist," he whispered in surprise. All of a sudden the ground beneath them started glowing as well. _

"_What the?" said Amano. A pillar of light surrounded Hitomi and Van. Their feet left the ground as they are lifted into the air. Amano ran forward, shouting "Hitomi!" as he reached out to her. "HITOMI!"_

When they see the glow of the pillar of light, Serah and Van know their time is up. They jump from the building in each other's arms.

"_My hand," Hitomi cries as she reaches down to Amano. "Hurry." But already she is too far away, only the pendant is passed between them as their fingers remain just out of reach. "Help me, Amano!" pleads Hitomi as she drifts upwards into the sky. _

They were falling faster, clinging to each other in their last seconds together.

"_Hitomi!" Amano shouts again, as he is left alone when the light dissipates. The night grows dark once again. "They're gone."_

"_Hitomi? Hitomi!" shouts her friend Yukari. _

The paradox resolved, Van was called back to his own time. He tried to resist, holding Serah tighter. "Serah!" Van cried as he dissipated into a cloud of feathers, two feet from the ground. Serah's arms compress against her chest as they cling to nothing but air. A single tear falls from her ocean blue eyes, as they reflect the pavement below her. "Snow, I'm coming home."

_Was it all a dream? Or maybe a vision…_

END.


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